DIY: DECKS
July 15, 2007
The Kansas City area experiences each end of the spectrum when it comes to weather extremes. This can be incredibly hard on the exterior of our homes but especially our decks. Outdoor living has increased in popularity in recent years. I’ve even installed kitchens outdoors, which doesn’t seem incredibly practical in this area but neither does golf, motorcycles, convertibles, or anything else you can only use 9 months out of the year. But I digress, the topic of this column is Deck Care.
Decks have traditionally been an inexpensive method in which to create a living space just outside our back doors. Decks used to be built out of fairly inexpensive materials and could be erected in a weekend with a neighbor, circular saw, and hammer over a couple of beverages. Unfortunately, as deck design has grown more elaborate and materials advanced, the price of a highly functional deck has shot upwards. Properly maintaining a deck over it’s lifetime can be more expensive than the initial deck investment itself.
Many homeowners don’t go to the expense of properly maintaining their decks. Instead of lasting 30+ years, a deck which hasn’t been maintained is lucky to reach the age of ten years. My most recent project was a large deck replacement in which we were able to salvage the joists (the support structure or skeleton) from the deck. The age of this deck was 30 years. How were we able to keep 30 year old 2×10 joists? The homeowners maintained their deck over the years. Not only did they seal the top-side decking, but they sealed the supporting joists as well. They saved themselves hundreds of dollars in labor and materials by doing so.
When I’m asked to perform deck maintenance, I generally start by pressure washing the surface. Be very careful when pressure washing wood, especially cedar. The power of the water can literally peel the wood fibers from one another and you may end up replacing deck boards if you’re not careful. There are also deck revitalization chemicals available from most home centers which will replace the use of a power washer, requiring a little more elbow grease but producing similar results.
After the deck has thoroughly dried, I spray on the sealant/stain of the homeowner’s specification. I generally recommend Cabot (available at Lowes). In years past, I’ve used Deckscapes from Sherwin Williams but changed this year based upon independent test results from Consumer Reports. Both of these choices can also be rolled and brushed on if you do not have a sprayer.
It is important to reseal your wood every couple of years, especially in the high trafficked areas. Although deck stains are rated for foot traffic, other variables will contribute to wear. Given our harsh winters and summers, every two years is a pretty good guideline. If your deck is well shaded, you may be able to go longer.
In addition to sharing information about deck maintenance in this column, I’d also like to broadly address various decking choices. Cedar has been the affordable upgrade in decking in this area of the country for some time. However the price of cedar has risen significantly in the past year and appears to continue doing so. This price increase brings the cost of composite decking into the picture for many of my clients. There are many advantages to a composite deck choice. The most significant is the low maintenance factor. Since composite decking comes pre-colored, you do not have to stain it. You don’t have to seal it. You don’t power wash it. Most composite deck manufacturers offer a hidden fastener system. Not having to look at thousands of nails or screws blemishing the surface of the material in which you invested plenty of cash is a priceless benefit.
The only drawbacks to composite decks in my mind are the inability to change the deck color, the initial investment (significantly more expensive than treated lumber), and the fact that composite decking does hold heat more than wood. The temperature of a composite deck that is in the sun will be a couple degrees higher than the same deck made of wood. These are a few things to consider when choosing a decking solution.
I did not have any questions suitable for publishing this month. If you do have questions about home improvement or would like more details about this topic, I’m always happy to answer them to the best of my ability. Some of those questions will appear within this column from time to time and may even inspire the topic of my column in a given month.