There are many households that put up a deck to give the house an improved look. A deck can be useful for a number of reasons and its usefulness can be best felt when you want to laze around in the sun during your leisure time. Moreover, decks do not demand a lot of your time and attention and if you take care of these decks just once in a while, it will certainly last for a long period of time.
The fact that decks are made of wood, especially timber makes it even more important to maintain them. In this write up let us focus on timber deck maintenance and what arethe measures you can take at home to make it last longer. Read on.
Identifiably, there are 3 reasons why you need to maintain timber decks. These are as follows:
When you maintain decks, it not just about cleaning the surface and painting it. There are few steps that need to be carried out carefully and the best part is you have quite a few options for maintaining timber decks. Basically, you can opt for two types of maintenance measures to keep your timber deck healthy. These are as follows-
You can coat the deck once or twice a year to prevent insects, rotting, and splits. Choose between water based and oil based coating material. Either way, it will revamp the look of your deck and make it look healthy and also keep it healthy from within. Prior to coating the deck, it is important that you wipe out the dust particles that get settled on the surface of the deck. This can be done with the help of cleaning agent.
Once the surface is devoid of oil, wax, dust, dirt, and mould, start applying the protective coating. You will be required to apply one coat first and when the first coat of paint dries up, re-applying the coating material will keep the surface protected from moisture, dust, and sunlight. It is best to use brush or pad that is made of lamb’s wool to give the coated layers a smooth look and application.
This is a vital step in maintaining timber decks. Once you have cleared the surface of dust and moisture, identify the areas that need to be sealed. Apply appropriate sealant at these places. Those points of the deck that are in close proximity to the ground are susceptible to insects and moisture. So, take utmost care of these points.
