We have a large cedar deck that's two years old. The clear stain only lasted
a year and a half before greying. This spring, I want to have the deck power-
washed, and then I'll stain it with a Sikkens stain with some pigment. My
wife has a Polish friend who owns a power washer. He says he'll clean it for
free. The contractor who built the deck said you have to be careful when power-
washing. If you use too much pressure, you'll lift the grain of the wood and
damage it. That's why I'm planning to ask a professional to do it. Is there
a danger to asking an amateur to do it instead?

Thanks!
Scott

Yes especially with cedar. You might try this first.

I use a heavy duty scrub brush with a long handle, similar but smaller than
a push broom. Mix half a cup of dish washer detergent and a 2 cups of
bleach into a bucket of water. Spread over the deck, wait 15-20 minutes
then rinse/brush off.


"Scott" wrote in message
...
We have a large cedar deck that's two years old. The clear stain only
lasted
a year and a half before greying. This spring, I want to have the deck
power-
washed, and then I'll stain it with a Sikkens stain with some pigment. My
wife has a Polish friend who owns a power washer. He says he'll clean it
for
free. The contractor who built the deck said you have to be careful when
power-
washing. If you use too much pressure, you'll lift the grain of the wood
and
damage it. That's why I'm planning to ask a professional to do it. Is
there
a danger to asking an amateur to do it instead?

Thanks!
Scott

I've been told by numerous people not to pressure wash my deck.

As noted by Jeff, I have a "pool deck" broom that I use as well as a
hand brush
for the railings.

Instead of Sodium Hypocholorite (Purex, Cholrox), I use a good oxygen
bleach and scrub well and rinse....why the oxygen bleach....???

In past years, the "regular" bleach has damaged landscape plants. The
Oxygen bleach does not, but also does a very acceptable job.

There are lots of brands of "oxy bleach" and some of them at the
supermarket aren't that good. I use the following, basically because
it contains what is needed and nothing else.

I'm sure there are other good brands, also

http://www.greenfeet.com/oxyboost.html

Scott wrote:
We have a large cedar deck that's two years old. The clear stain only lasted
a year and a half before greying. This spring, I want to have the deck power-
washed, and then I'll stain it with a Sikkens stain with some pigment. My
wife has a Polish friend who owns a power washer. He says he'll clean it for
free. The contractor who built the deck said you have to be careful when power-
washing. If you use too much pressure, you'll lift the grain of the wood and
damage it. That's why I'm planning to ask a professional to do it. Is there
a danger to asking an amateur to do it instead?

Thanks!
Scott

Too much pressure and you can carve your initials in it. Sikkens
website has very specific instructions for preparation, which include
cleaning and sanding, he
http://www.nam.sikkens.com/product-c..._category=deck

Enjoy )

"Scott" wrote in message
...
We have a large cedar deck that's two years old. The clear stain only
lasted
a year and a half before greying. This spring, I want to have the deck
power-
washed, and then I'll stain it with a Sikkens stain with some pigment. My
wife has a Polish friend who owns a power washer. He says he'll clean it
for
free. The contractor who built the deck said you have to be careful when
power-
washing. If you use too much pressure, you'll lift the grain of the wood
and
damage it. That's why I'm planning to ask a professional to do it. Is
there
a danger to asking an amateur to do it instead?

Thanks!
Scott

I just cleaned mine last year. I bought two gal. of deck cleaner and a
stiff brush/broom. The ones you hook a garden hose. I put deck cleaner in a
bucket and used a old house broom to spread it, let it sit and then scrubbed
it worked ok. Then what I did took a five gal. bucket of water and put a bag
of pool shock in it worked much better and cost way less. I would be careful
if you use a power washer.

In article , Scott
wrote:

We have a large cedar deck that's two years old. The clear stain only lasted
a year and a half before greying. This spring, I want to have the deck power-
washed, and then I'll stain it with a Sikkens stain with some pigment. My
wife has a Polish friend who owns a power washer. He says he'll clean it for
free. The contractor who built the deck said you have to be careful when
power-
washing. If you use too much pressure, you'll lift the grain of the wood and
damage it. That's why I'm planning to ask a professional to do it. Is there
a danger to asking an amateur to do it instead?

Thanks!
Scott

I feel the need to say something because lots of folks chimed in when
I posted a question just like this two years ago. Payback time!

I have a deck constructed of western red cedar: it's really soft.
For several years it was "professionally" pressure cleaned and treated.
The pressure cleaning went just fine; the treatments were awful. They
were clear and lasted barely one season.

I decided to research it and do it myself.

What I found out is that the name-brand chemical cleaners sold
specifically for this task (I used Cabots, but there are plenty of other
good ones) are better and gentler for the deck than pressure cleaning.

I followed the directions on the Cabots container AND I bought an
electric pressure washer from Home Depot. Electric ones do not generate
the high pressures of a gasoline-powered unit and your risk of damaging
the deck is GREATLY reduced. (Try the pressure washer on a old piece of
lumber first and you'll quickly get a feeling for how much damage they
can do and how close you have to hold it to the board and how long you
have to hold it there to damage the board.)

I let the chemical cleaner set, as instructed, about 10 minutes on an
area about 8ft X 8ft, then scrubbed the boards with a good stiff scrub
brush on a pole, then went over it gently with the pressure washer.

I then treated it with Cabot's, using a semi-transarent stain and
that lasted two full seasons, in the Washington, D.C. area. I could
have gone a third, I guess, but now I know how to do it, it's easy to
clean it again and reapply another coat of the stain.

Oh, by the way. Since you are not stripping the deck down to bare
wood, only use a VERY THIN COAT of whatever you decide to use or it will
never dry.

Good luck,
bob

Scott wrote:

We have a large cedar deck that's two years old. The clear stain only lasted
a year and a half before greying. This spring, I want to have the deck power-
washed, and then I'll stain it with a Sikkens stain with some pigment. My
wife has a Polish friend who owns a power washer. He says he'll clean it for
free. The contractor who built the deck said you have to be careful when power-
washing. If you use too much pressure, you'll lift the grain of the wood and
damage it. That's why I'm planning to ask a professional to do it. Is there
a danger to asking an amateur to do it instead?

Thanks!
Scott


Thanks for all the excellent suggestions! Last year, I tried a deck cleaner and
bleach, but it took a lot of scrubbing with less than desirable results. So, I'm
going to get a quote from a professional, as far as power-washing. But I'll want
him to be very careful, since I don't want to damage the cedar.

Scott

Scott wrote:

We have a large cedar deck that's two years old. The clear stain only lasted
a year and a half before greying. This spring, I want to have the deck power-
washed, and then I'll stain it with a Sikkens stain with some pigment. My
wife has a Polish friend who owns a power washer. He says he'll clean it for
free. The contractor who built the deck said you have to be careful when power-
washing. If you use too much pressure, you'll lift the grain of the wood and
damage it. That's why I'm planning to ask a professional to do it. Is there
a danger to asking an amateur to do it instead?

Thanks!
Scott

Update:

My professional friend came over with his pressure-washer, but after looking at
the deck, he decided to go the bleach and scrub brush route. It came out really
clean. After a few days, I followed up with Sikkens Light Cedar stain, which I
applied by paint brush. Everything now looks great. Thanks for all your input!

Scott