Wood Deck Treaments

[jspiezio]

Question for all you wood experts. We have a covered porch with 3" wide tongue in groove mahogany planking, about 800 sf. The wood has faded over the years, and my wife wants it cleaned and perhaps sealed.

Can you guys recommend anything? I have googled quite a bit, but would feel better hearing it from the horses' mouths.

[CaptPatrick]

Clean it in much the same way as you would a teak deck...

Do this on a shady or overcast day; no direct sunlight on the deck. Hose the deck off with fresh water but not forcefully with a hard nozzle stream.

While the deck is wet, mix 1 gallon of sudsy ammonia with 6 oz of Dawn, or other concentrated liquid laundry detergent; no water.

Apply with a flat 3M refinishing pad on a pole. Work with the grain of the wood and apply only moderate pressure to the pad. Just keep the area you're working on fully wetted out for 5 minutes. Work about 100 sq ft at a time, rinse well, and move on to the next section.

Rinse the entire deck until you no longer get soap suds. This is going to darken the wood considerably.

Now mix 1 quart of household bleach with 1 gallon of water and repeat the process of working 100 sq ft and keeping it wet. Do a final rinse, and again don't be aggressive with the nozzle or you'll blow out soft wood grain.

This will lighten the wood somewhat from the cleaning process. The natural color will return after about 5 or 6 sunny days.

If the wood is overly grainy and has high ridges, you may want to knock down the profile with 120 grit paper. Maybe rent a floor sander?

Treat and seal the wood with something like Thompson's, but not anything that has a varnish content like Deks Olay or Sikens...

Maintenance coats twice a year, usually in the spring and fall.