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Keep your Family Safe this Season with these deck maintenance tips

Keep your Family Safe this Season with these deck maintenance tips

June 29, 2017

Deck Maintenance This Season

Maintaining your deck is important, and it is always a good idea to take these steps before winter rolls in. Decks are often overlooked when it comes to general maintenance, but can become safety hazards if not properly maintained. This is especially important is the weather this Thanksgiving is warm enough for entertaining outdoors. Also, an advantage to completing deck maintenance in the fall is that come spring your deck will be ready to enjoy with little to no hassle.

Do-it Yourself Deck Maintenance

Inspect: First and foremost, inspect your deck for any damage and/or any loose rails or boards. Check the stairs to make sure they are secure and also check the area connecting to your home to ensure that it is also secure. Look out for any areas that appear to be rotting or any warped boards that may need to be replaced. It is a good idea to jot down your findings while you inspect in order to refer to it later if you need to get supplies or hire a repairperson to fix.

Winter Deck Maintenance

Clean: After you have inspected your deck, then it is time to clean it. Depending on the type of deck that you have (composite or natural wood), how you clean it may differ. You can use a scrub brush, a cleaner specifically made for decks and your garden hose to clean your deck. Or you can rent a pressure washer to clean it as well. Either way you go, give your deck a thorough cleaning and then move on to repairs.

Repair: Determine if there are any easy repairs that you can fix yourself. Easy repairs include securing nails and sanding wood. For those with advanced skills they may be able to secure railings, stairs and even replace damaged wood. Before attempting any of these repairs, do so only if you are skilled in the area. Otherwise it is often less expensive and safer to hire an expert. In addition, experts can ensure that your deck is up to your city or county’s ordinance codes.

Refinish: Once repairs are complete, you may decide to stain or refinish your deck. Again, as with repairs, unless you are an expert you may find that attempting to refinish or stain your deck may be more hassle than what it is worth. Staining can be very messy and be a time consuming process that can produce less than satisfactory results if done by a novice.

Maintaining your deck is important to increase the longevity of your deck and also to keep your family safe. If you have a deck that is need of repair or maintenance, then contact Quaker State Construction to have your deck inspected, repaired or replaced.