Beautifying Your Back Deck

Audra Lowe: Are you looking for a full home improvement project that will not break the bank. A lot of people are so how about beautifying your back deck and protecting it all at the same time. We asked an expert to show us how. Fall is here and winter is close behind so is your backyard deck ready to face the elements.

Jeff Wilson Wilson: If you spend thousand of dollars on your deck and you don’t treat it may only last for five years. If you treat it, it could last this almost 25 or 30 years.

Audra Lowe: We met up with home improvement expert, Jeff Wilson for lessening and protecting your deck and making it beautiful all at the same time.

Jeff Wilson: Cleaning your deck and treating it is a very important thing to do. It’s also an inexpensive thing to do. Not only is it going to protect your deck against the weather right from water and mold and mildew and the sun. So, it will protect your investment and your deck but also it’s a chance to beautify your deck inexpensively.

Audra Lowe: First step is to see if your deck needs to be treated by doing a splash test on the most traveled parts.

Jeff Wilson: And we take a little of water and on an older deck like this board I have here I splash the water on. If you look the water darkens the wood very quickly and what that is telling you is that the wood is porous and it’s accepting the water. Now, on a piece of trimming like this we just stain the other day. You put the water on and you can see how it bids up. Now, you know that the wood is protected and you don’t have to treat your deck now.

Audra Lowe: Next, prepare your deck with a good wash. I want to prepare the surface first so that the coating that you choose can actually adhere and don the job it’s supposed to do. If you don’t clean it, well, you can leave those contaminants, the dirt, the mildew, the algae and those will interfere with the coating and you have to go back and maintain it.

In this case we have a deck and old sitter deck probably 12 to 15 years old. It had a lot mold and mildew. It was almost black and we use heavy duty that cleaner and then you spray that on the deck. You had it set for maybe 10 to 15 minutes to look at the clean your work and then go over at the stiff bristle brush like this and that would help sort of brush off what has come up from the cleaner and then spray down really well. Rinse the deck really well, just sprint a strong spray from a garden hose.

Audra Lowe: Let it dry from a few hours to a couple for days depending on the product that you’re using and then it’s time for the fun part choosing the color.

Jeff Wilson: So, you have a lot of choices in stains these days. The owner of this house wanted to carry his motif from inside to the outside so he’s got blonde floors on the inside sort of a Birch Park trim colors that we’re going to do honey gold wood protector on the deck surface itself and on the balusters of the railing and that kind of thing but then as an accent it shows us Birch Park deck in house from Thompson as well you’ll know. Both of these products will protect and beautify at the same time so again you have a lot of choices. You’re not just going to do a deck maintenance job but you're actually going to add some beauty tips as well.

This is really the easiest part of the job and it’s the most rewarding, right? You get to see the deck change color. Just kind of pour it into a pink pad here. I’m going to use the pink pad on a pole. This is really easy to use on a flat surface and if you use a pole in it, it will save your back. You won’t be bent over. Now, paint yourself into a corner.

Audra Lowe: So protect and beautify your back deck now before it’s too late and you and your family will enjoy your outdoors space for years to come.

Audra Lowe: And check your local disposal regulation before disposing if you have leftover water or sealer or if you like to save it for future touch ups you can. Just make sure the container is completely sealed before you put it away.