Is Your Deck Ready for Winter?

Winter may be a favorite time of year for many Southern Californians, but it’s a particularly harsh time for your deck and other structures on your home. The high temperature fluctuations from the warmest parts of the day to the coldest times at night can cause a lot of expansion and contraction in deck materials, resulting in considerable wear and tear. This wear and tear is only accentuated by added moisture from dew, morning fog, and even rainy weather that we do occasionally receive during this season as well.

If your deck isn’t prepared for the winter months, it could sustain some serious damage that leads to major repairs and expensive maintenance costs. However, taking the time to give your deck a little bit of preventative care and maintenance can do wonders for preserving your deck and preventing this seasonal damage. Here are a couple of things you should consider doing before the weather starts getting too cold and the rains start to fall this winter.

Clean Your Deck

Whether your deck is made from wood, composite materials, concrete, or any other material, every deck could benefit from a good, thorough cleaning ever so often. Use a pressure washer to scrub down the surface of your deck and clear away any stains, mold, debris, or other imperfections that may have formed. Use a bleach-free cleaner to help with the tough spots, including stuck-on dirt, weathered wood stains, water rings, and more.

If the stain or finish surface on your deck has run its course and needs to be replaced, or mold and mildew have started to form on the surface, your pressure washer can help you remove the stain and prep the surface for re-finishing. This may take some time and effort, but making sure you get the job done right will help you achieve much better results.

Apply a Protective Finish

Once your deck has been washed down and any re-stain or re-surfacing has been completed (if necessary), it’s a good idea to apply a new protective finish. In a perfect world, a protective finish will last two to three years, but harsh summers and constantly-shifting temperatures mean you may need to re-apply this surface to your deck every year. You should also carefully consider how much use your deck sees on a regular basis: the more you use your deck, the more likely it is you’ll need to re-seal it to prepare it for the cold, wet winter months.

Call Capital Deck & Star Waterproofing today at (888)-508-2966 and let our Los Angeles deck waterproofing team prepare your deck surface for the cold, wet months ahead.