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When is a good time to seal a deck?
How often should I clean and seal my deck?
Is it too cold to seal my deck?
How many types of deck preservatives, sealers, and stains are available?
Can you wash and seal a deck in one day?
How long does the sealer last?
What’s the difference between clear and colored sealers?
Should all decks bead water after they are sealed?
My deck looks dry. Should I use oil or acrylic sealers?
Does power washing damage the wood?
My deck has a lot of splinters. What can I do?
Why do the nails pop up every year from our deck?
Why do some decking planks have cracks in them?
What’s the best wood to use for building a deck?
What’s the best synthetic material to use when building a deck?
What does a UV light inhibitor do for your deck?
Do all decks need professional sanding?
I used a redwood stain on my deck. Can I change the color to cedar or gray?
Are the cleaning solutions that you use safe?
Does stripping the color off my deck do damage to the wood?
Why does the color I chose look different on my deck than on the sample brochure?
How many coats of sealer do you apply?
Should I seal the underside of my deck?
Do all planters leave black water rings on decks?
The stained finish scratched off my deck with our deck furniture. Why did this happen?
Why should I use a solid stain on my deck?
I used a clear sealant on my deck. Why did it turn completely gray in 3 months?
Should my deck look shiny when it’s sealed?
How long do sealers take to dry?
My deck turned black. Do I need a new one?
Should our deck be screwed or nailed?
Do all deck products fade in the sun?
We have a wooden pool deck. Why does the color fade so quickly?

When is a good time to seal a deck?
Any time in the spring, summer, or fall when the temperature is at least 50 degrees

How often should I clean and seal my deck?
That depends on our climate. Decks in the direct sunlight tend to fade and dry out; decks in humid and shady areas grow algae and fungus spores. Both problems require attention yearly, or no later than two seasons apart.

Is it too cold to seal my deck?
We need a minimum 50 degree temperature to safely let deck preservative products cure and dry properly.

How many types of deck preservatives, sealers, and stains are available?
There are clear coats, toners, transluscent colored sealers, semi-transparent stains, and solid stains. Available in both alkyd (oil) or acrylic (latex) formulas.

Can you wash and seal a deck in one day?
There are products which are available upon request to wash and seal in one day. However, we choose a two-day method: Wash on the first day, and sand and seal the second dry day.

How long does the sealer last?
Again, depending on your deck's exposure to direct sunlight and precipitation elements, we recommend redoing the job anywhere from one to two seasons apart.

What’s the difference between clear and colored sealers?
Clear sealants are mainly water repellents that don't carry UV light protection. They have no trans-oxide pigments in their formulae that filter out damaging sun light. Colored products carry all the benefits of deck protection, including a UV light inhibitor. (General rule: the more color, the more pigment, the more UV protection)

Should all decks bead water after they are sealed?
Some products bead lots of water for a short period of time because they have lots of paraffin and carnuba wax in them. However, a lot of the best decking products have little or no wax in them, making them not bead. They sheath the water instead. (Beading water is just a chemical property of water on wax. It has no effects on the preservation qualities of the product.)

My deck looks dry. Should I use oil or acrylic sealers?
Want our professional opinion? We always use an alkyd (oil) based product to replenish the moisture back into the lumber.

Does power washing damage the wood?
Not when it is professionally done. Proper training and knowledge is a must when restoring a wood deck. Lots of home owners rent a machine and think it's that easy. Beware!! The damages and cuts into your deck which result from improper usage of a pressure washer may become permanent scars, and board replacement will become necessary.

My deck has a lot of splinters. What can I do?
Get a professional opinion and set up a plan to restore your deck to its original condition. It could be minor raised fibers and small splinters that can easily be finish-sanded off, or it might be severe sunlight damage (as in the way that pressure-treated pine gets, with seperation of the grain, causing sharp spear-like spikes). At this stage, replacement of the boards is needed.

Why do the nails pop up every year from our deck?
Every deck expands and contracts in the summer and winter months, causing nails to pop. This requires maintenance to hammer the heads back down.

Why do some decking planks have cracks in them?
Small or medium cracks in decking woods are known as checking, and appear as the wood begins to dry out.

What’s the best wood to use for building a deck?
There are many great products out there – knotty cedar, red cedar, clear cedar, redwood, mahogany, ipe, pressure-treated pine...

What’s the best synthetic material to use when building a deck?
There are many synthetic deck building products out these days, such as Trex, TimberTech, and PVC-coated railing systems…

What does a UV light inhibitor do for your deck?
It is a basic sunblock for your deck, much like the sunblocks you'd use on your skin.

Do all decks need professional sanding?
Yes, in time, all decks need some TLC! As part of our services, we always sand our decks after power washing them to remove any raised fiber or small splinters.

I used a redwood stain on my deck. Can I change the color to cedar or gray?
Sure can! We can change your deck's color and look from red to blue. This is only available in staining products.

Are the cleaning solutions that you use safe?
All of our products are 100% biodegradable and environmentally safe.

Does stripping the color off my deck do damage to the wood?
Not at all. When done professionally, a very small amount of dried-out dead fiber is removed when your deck is getting a face lift.

Why does the color I chose look different on my deck than on the sample brochure?
Every deck will hold a color in its own unique way due to the porosity of the lumber you have. It also reflects the lightness or darkness of the specific kind of lumber. The sample swatches are just a reference, and may, in themselves, have variations because of printing inks.

How many coats of sealer do you apply?
Over-applying deck products is the worst thing you can do! They will never dry, or they will penetrate the deck, leaving a tacky residue all the time (that oily mess that you can track into the house!). All products are applied in different methods, but most are done with one full coat.

Should I seal the underside of my deck?
It is not necessary, but it will not hurt, providing there is access to the underside.

Do all planters leave black water rings on decks?
They sure do, depending on the duration of time left on the deck and with acid rain exposure.

The stained finish scratched off my deck with our deck furniture. Why did this happen?
This will happen, especially when you have heavy cast-metal furniture and slide chairs in and out.

Why should I use a solid stain on my deck?
When you're looking for a painted-kind-of-look to match you home exterior, or when the deck has been totally neglected, solid stains hide and conceal any cosmetic imperfections that the lumber may have.

I used a clear sealant on my deck. Why did it turn completely gray in 3 months?

Clear sealants let the deck naturally gray out. Remember, there are no colors or pigments in these formulae to prevent graying!

Should my deck look shiny when it’s sealed?

Not at all, unless that’s the type of look you are looking for. If you want shine, a special product is required.

How long do sealers take to dry?
A general 24-48 hours, depending on humidity.

My deck turned black. Do I need a new one?
Unless it was burned in a fire, No, not at all! You just need to schedule restoration services with Power Clean and Restoration Systems.

Should our deck be screwed or nailed?
We use stainless steel screws on all of our decks---no more nail pops!!!

Do all deck products fade in the sun?
Yes, that’s a pretty common problem, but your deck can always be refinished.

We have a wooden pool deck. Why does the color fade so quickly?
Chlorine the biggest problem for all decks. Chlorine will fade any type of finish or coating on any deck. This application is always a high maintenance issue.



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