How To Maintain a Deck or a Pergola

18Shares

Having decks or pergolas is one of the best ways you can add charm and rustic feeling to your house. It’s all great until you realize that you will have to clean and maintain it if you want to keep it looking amazing as it is exposed to all the elements. If you don’t take care of it it will start looking old and it just won’t look good. So, if you have started to notice that your deck or pergola isn’t looking too good, here is how you can maintain it.

Clean Your Deck and Pergola

You must clean the dirt thoroughly. One of the best things you can do is find a cleaner in your home containing Napisan and scrub your deck with it. After you have cleaned it, make sure that you rinse off the solution and that you allow it to dry. You might have to use a commercial stain stripper to get rid of any buildup If there is more buildup that you can’t get off with the normal solution,

If your pergola is made out of softer wood, try to avoid using hard abrasives and detergents because you will awaken the wood as well as damage it. If that is the case make sure you are using a soft bristle brush and mild detergents. The key is to do it every month or so to avoid any larger buildup. Another thing to keep in mind is that you should always use a garden hose and not a pressure washer because that might be too harsh.

Get Rid of Any Mildew and Stains

Not a lot of people realize that mildew ruins your decks and pergolas the fastest. If you see that there is mildew forming you should act quickly. Another thing that you should always pay attention to is having stains under your furniture. If you don’t remove them fast enough, they can become permanent and you don’t want that. Once you have a clean surface you will want to mix bleach with water and spray it onto the clean surface. You will see that all the mildew and stains will start to fade, once they fade use the soap solution to wash it off.

Stain Your Deck or Pergola

Due to the weather conditions and how much you use your decks and pergolas will fade over time. If you don’t like when the wood is faded you can simply stain it to look brand new again. Before you apply anything, clean it properly and have out the neutralizer on it. That will help the coating of the stay naturalize. The key part of staining your deck or pergola is that you use the right tools.

You will want to use a paintbrush that has bristles because it will go in all the pores. Try to apply the stain by doing long costume strokes painting the planks one by one. Coat all the boards evenly as otherwise you will have drastic differences and it won’t look that good. For getting the best results make sure that you are reading and following the directions that come on the stain. The first layer always completely dries before you start putting on the next one because you will ruin your deck if you don’t wait. Depending on what type of wood you have you will pick the right stain for it. There are also stains that you can spray on instead of using a brush.

Touch Up Any Damages

If you have some damaged areas, you can get a repair kit and try to restore them. All you need to do is apply the product where it needs and then refinish the area. The most important thing is that you choose the right kit for what type of damage you have.

Repairing Your Deck or Pergola

If you have spaces with stains that just can’t be painted over, it is better to replace them. Depending on what kind of wood you have, sometimes you will be able to replace just the planks that are salvageable, but in some cases, you will have to replace the whole thing.

When you maintain your outdoor space, you keep it in a great condition where you can relax in summertime. Your backyard should be your getaway from real life. That is one of the biggest reasons why you should always maintain your decks or pergolas.

About
Latest Posts

Leo King

Leo King is a 29-year-old freelance English teacher and a passionate part-time writer. He is a novel aficionado and interested in reading and writing articles about home improvement, business, fashion, health, marketing, web designing, technology, and related niches. He lives with his wife and family in Sydney.