Factors That Shorten Your Deck’s Lifespan

A deck can add tremendous value and use to your property, but only when they’re well-kept and in good working condition. Therefore, it’s important to make sure your deck is maintained and protected from factors that can influence its longevity. In fact, many of these factors are things your deck has to deal with every single day, which can make them hard to combat against. To help you better prepare for what can deal damage to your deck, here are some of the most common wear-and-tear factors that can influence your deck’s lifespan.

Rain/Moisture

Whether you have a wooden plank deck on your property or a solid commercial-quality cement deck, rain and moisture are always threats you’ll have to worry about. Rain can eat away and erode materials, causing them to wear out, become brittle, and eventually break down and collapse. While this is a much bigger problem with wooden decks, cement decks are not immune. Be sure to keep an eye out for one of the most common signs of rain and moisture damage: puddling or pooling, usually caused by uneven surfaces not allowing water to flow away properly.

Sunlight

Southern California is known for our long, harsh hours of sunlight, especially during the long summer days. The ultraviolet light that the sun emits can cause immense damage to just about anything you leave outside, including the surface of your deck. Even hard-surface decks will eventually succumb to the sun, including by fading and drying out, which can lead to cracking and serious structural issues with your deck.

Heat

Speaking of drying things out, the heat and generally dry air in Southern California can lead to all sorts of issues with your deck. Heat exacerbates the warping, wearing, and fading of wooden decks, causing the internal areas of wood to dry out along with the outside layers, eventually leading to rot, warping, and splintering. Heat changes are also an issue: your deck materials expanding and contracting throughout the day can eventually lead to their wearing out, cracking, and warping.

The best way to make sure your deck is ready to handle the stresses the environment can throw at it is to make sure it’s properly sealed and waterproofed by a Los Angeles deck waterproofing expert. Call Capital Deck & Stair Waterproofing at (888)-508-2966  to request a quote and get your deck in top shape again as soon as possible!