Monday, October 20, 2014

Homekeeping- Preserving the Deck

When we built our summer cottage we inherited an old deck that our build urged us to burn. I had the idea to move it to the shade and clean it. We did so and sealed it with Thompson’s water seal. It is still in very good shape with the exception of one board that had to be replaced.

lake view

After the deck was moved to its new location I used a pressure washer to give it a good cleaning. Surprising to me, it looked almost new and I’m sure that it was more than 20 years old. I then coated it with Thompson’s water seal. The folks at Thompson’s told me that if water stands on the deck after rain, it does not need to be sealed again.  I noticed recently that there isn’t much standing water after a good rain so it was time to reseal.

Thompson's deck cleaner

I was instructed to give the deck a good cleaning with Thompson’s wood cleaner.

Thompson's water seal

Next, I followed that with a coat of Thompson’s water seal. I planned to use my garden sprayer but it had the wrong end on the sprayer and I couldn’t find the other adapter so I used a paint roller. The can cautions about over application. When I got to the end of the deck I had a little extra and decided to apply it. Unfortunately, it was too much and left a spot that looked waxy, somewhat like over applying floor wax. That spot had since self corrected.  I know now to be more careful in following the directions next time.  Hopefully, I am good for 6 more years now!

I received complimentary product from Thompson’s Water Seal to use on this project. All opinions are my own.  Thompson’s is a product that I highly recommend.

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I’m linking to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch and to the Scoop at Worthing Court.

2 comments:

Atticmag said...

Great job on your deck. I do prefer old wood to new and the sealer seems to have made a good difference. Thanks for stopping by! Jane

Vel Criste said...

Great tip Pat, luckily we bought a house with composite deck. :-)