Deck treatments

[flatbutt]

Soooo tired of doing this every year. My deck is not roofed so is exposed to everything every day. Full sun all summer, snow and ice all winter. Thompsons just plain sucked as did Behr. I used that new-ish paint Deck Over and while it took the sun very well...this winter kicked it's butt. Sigh...short of replacing the wood with plastic, any ideas?

[SilberUrS6]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

Soooo tired of doing this every year.[...]Sigh...short of replacing the wood with plastic, any ideas?

Well, I was where you were. Every DAMN year. After a particularly demanding annual fix-it, I finally came to the end of my deck-refurbishing rope.

So I yanked the whole thing out and put in pavers, and over the top I put a pergola. The grape vines are now growing up over the pergola in a very satisfactory fashion, and the pavers look great. It was not an easy or cheap DIY, but the great thing was that the pergola is free-standing, so no permit required here for building it, and no concrete pour for the patio, so no permit for that, either. I did it all myself over the course of the summer, from demo to final coat of urethane on the pergola. The hardest part, IMO, was the excavation for the paver bed. That was a serious PITA, and hard on my office-worker muscles. But I really like the results.

I was going to go with plastic, but at the very end of the shopping process, the wife and I were invited over to a her co-worker's house, and he had just put in pavers...

[island911]

If pavers are an option, go with that. Wood decks are a lot of maintenance. And then they need to be replaced. :-/ I know I have one.

The plastic doesn't rot, but it will flex/warp/sag - joists need to be 16" OC or less (12" is better) And about those joists - they're wood. .. which will rot.

Because of that problem, when I added on to my deck, I capped the joists with copper flashing. Those have held up wonderfully.

fwiw, I went with vertical tight grain (old-growth) cedar. It's pretty tough stuff, even with the on-going mossy wetness of the PNW. (~15 y/o)

[willtel]

I've been slowly stripping my front porch\deck over the last few months. I almost have it looking like new and I plan to apply Penofin Oil to it rather than a true stain or paint. Luckily mine is covered and I'm selling the house it is attached to.

Wood Stain | Penofin Penetrating Oil Finishes and Wood Stain

[Evans, Marv]

The best thing I've found is Amteco Total Wood Preservative (TWP). I went through the same thing and finally found this stuff. It lasted for around 3 years as opposed to one. If your deck is exposed to the weather and sunlight, you will always have to refinish it sometime no matter what you use.

[look 171]

Put on Ipe decking and it should last you a long time. I have Ipe in my own home and its been 10 years now without issues bu a little dirty. I treated it only three or four time with Penofin. the best oil IMO. Now, I can't promise you what will happen to the Ipe in NJ.

[Venetian]

I built a cedar deck with planters etc. 3yrs ago . I will let it weather naturally. I stained it once which lasted 1year. I then sanded it clean and will let it age. I have an older cedar deck...20 yrs....which I left untreated and it's still in fair condition.

[RWebb]

those 2 brands are heavily advertised but cheap POS chemicals - Behr is now the low buck chuck of Home Despot

before spending a fortune for all new wood decking, strip it well, and then use the highest quality stain in your area - go to a good paint store nearby - where the prof. painters go

[masraum]

I've got what you need right here.

[nota]

use better wood
cedar redwood teak ipe ect

not pine or fur

[masraum]

Originally Posted by nota

not pine or fur

heheheheh

[drcoastline]

Here in South Jersey we have our decks fiberglassed. No maintenance for years except for washing. You can have the gelcoat pigmented any color under the sun to match your house. On a related note but different we also fiberglass our heater laundry room floors and but a drain in the middle. Need to drain the heating system or H/W heater? No problem. Washer over flow or a supply line break? No problem.

No splinters, no rot. If it gets damaged grind it down, apply new mat re-gelcoat the spot. Good to go. Add a little non skid so you don't slip when it gets wet. If the deck is on the second floor the space underneath is protected.

[Bill Douglas]

Around here most decks are built with treated pine and never receive any sort of treatment. They usually last about 20 years.

People who don't care about the Indonesians downing their rainforests build their's out of Kwila which would last a lifetime or two.