Deck Maintenance

BACKGROUND:

First a little background on our decks. I built stage one about 6 years ago. I constructed this one totally of pressure treated lumber. It is about 10x12, and I subsequently roofed it and screened it in to make a nice back porch which is entered from the dining room thru outswing French doors. About 2 years after building this deck, I built stage two deck. This deck is attached to the original deck and is @ 16x16 and also is constructed of pressure treated lumber. About 2 years after that, we decided it would be nice to have a Spa/Hot tub. This resulted in building another deck, sited on the other side of the house in a more sheltered location. Since this deck was to support a hot tub weighing up to 6000 lbs (weight of hot tub, 500 gallons of water and up to 6 people), I had to design this deck to support this load. (I always try to err on the side of caution - so this deck is substantially more than adequate). The main under structure of this deck is pressure treated lumber, with decking and trim being cedar.

PREPPING FOR STAINING:

I got good results with Olympic Olympic Premium Deck Cleaner(cost about $7 at Lowes). You use this stuff full strength in a pressure sprayer. I found it did a very good job. After you let it sit for about 10 minutes, you hose it off. After hosing it off, I went over it with my new pressure washer. This was sufficient for the enclosed porch, and hot tub deck, but I found I needed to give the 16x16 deck a second cleaning. This was due to fact that large part of it is under a large tree and it had a fair amount of moss/algae(?) on it. Second cleaning did the job here. Again rinsed and pressure washed. The decks are now ready for staining (which I am hoping t0 do this weekend, weather permitting). I will detail this operation when completed.

PRESSURE WASHERS:

My only experience is with the electric powered pressure washers. I originally purchased a Karcher brand electric pressure washer (yellow color). It was a piece of junk . After one season, the plastic elbow failed at the glue joint. I called Karcher and was told I would have to buy a new part since it wasn't "defective". However, when I called the supplier for Karcher parts, the parts people knew immediately what part it was, because it was such a common problem. Why buy another junk part for a junk pressure washer, and have to pay for it along with shipping and handling every few months. My solution - trash can for this worthless piece of s..t. I have noticed a huge availability of "factory refurbished" Karcher units. Something is only as strong as its weakest part - and this pressure washer definitely had a "guaranteed to fail" part. But now I wanted another pressure washer. My first inclination was to get a heavy duty gas powered model. The gas units cost more, are more cumbersome to operate (larger, bulkier, gas storage, starting, etc). These factors outweighed the versatility/power advantage that the gas models offered. So, I was at Home Depot and almost purchased one of these models, when I happened to notice the Husky electric model. It looked similar to the Karcher one but upon close observation, I noted that the fittings were brass, it had quick connect/disconnect brass fittings, had more power (psi). It felt much more solid. So I ended up getting it (I think for about $169). I have had no problems with it and am very happy with its performance. I might mention that we only occasionally need a pressure washer - like for deck cleaning, etc., and this one is easy to use and does a great job for our use. Easy to store, set-up, etc., and I don't have to deal with gas, oil, spark plugs, tune-ups, pull cords, etc. Now if I was using one daily on a commercial/professional basis (heavy duty usage), I would opt for the more powerful gas units.

Deck Maintenance

We have been too busy to post here. Sorry. The weather hasn't cooperated with a smooth sequence of deck maintenance, but that is what my husbands latest home project is. He cleaned the decks and now will be re-staining them ( weather allowing). I charged up the camera batteries so I can take pictures of the process- although you have to miss out on the recording of the green algae buildup and darkened areas of wood. I can hear your exclamations of disappointment now! ;)

I didn't quite get to finishing the paint job in the back room, so that is waiting for me, as well as painting the lattice. Oops... that is a job leftover from last year, along with the mucked up porch painting ( I had no responsibility in that mess!) Just a reminder to Handyman ( who reads this) that cheaper paint in another type than previously used was not the best choice. Remember to get some polyurethane type after we tediously scrape off the old peeling stuff.... Whenever that will be, now.

I'm tempted to blast it off with the power washer. I really like using the power washer.

Now the focus has shifted to the garden and not being "Wonder Woman" the house is not going to get much attention until I get all the flats of plants planted and more of the weeding and mulching done.




Technorati Tags: Decks, cleaning

Odds and ends::floors and woodwork

This is just a short post to describe the floors and woodwork. In my previous house, in the city- which was one of the Craftsman type homes built in the 1917 to Twenties era, the woodwork and floors for even modest homes was beautiful. Generous dark English oak style appointments including coffered ceiling beams,built in bookcases and fireside bench and oak floors. That made the interior decorating! Good thing, since my furniture was early make-do. The upstairs had beautiful gum woodwork and the master bedroom had its own old ( non-working) gas fireplace- stylishly pretty, even if it was useless. The exterior was done in the revival Tudor style. I really liked that house...just not the neighborhood now there are some interesting stories!.

So we moved out to the country, into a plain old cobbled together farmhouse. Big enough for my growing family, but just short of condemning. Really...it was in bad shape. The floors were an interesting history ( some of which I wrote previously). After taking up the old vinyl flooring we found layers- sort of like the tells of cities, underneath. There was the twenty-era linoleum in what was probably once the back porch and later the kitchen, the oak floorboards of the thirties era maybe that covered the original wider pine boards. The pine board flooring was the original type to the old part of the house. It was painted, and some parts I went ahead and painted again, since the boards weren't in the best of shape and that cuts down on splintering. We've had some monstrous splinters to extract from feet over the years (yes, we go barefoot alot- we're country out here!).

In the dining room we refinished the floor and put down a polyurethane seal. In the living room we kept the old finish and I wax the floors and rent a buffer twice a year. I should do it probably another time- 3x a year, since the area around the wood stove sees a lot of wear. We had to order new windows over the years- had them made fairly economically and they match the old style. The trim work in the living room is pine, stained the color favored in the twenties- sort of a dark reddish varnished finish. I use Murphy Oil Soap and English Oil, but not as often as I did in the old house- I just don't have the housework motivation, now. On the floors we use Paste wax and buff that out, on the polyurethane we get the recommended DuraSeal stuff. But I came across advice to clean polyurethane finished floors with a solution of 1 cup white vinegar to 3 cups warm water... I've got one of those industrial sized bottles of white vinegar around just for cleaning- I think it's time I tried it. Sometimes old fashioned solutions are the best.

There is an interesting site, The Online Floor Store, that has lots of good input in a forum. Check it out for comments on your own flooring challenges. I found it really interesting.

Well, that's it for this post- later:)

Technorati Tags: floors, woodwork