Good Deck Maintenance Requires Proper Education
Each year while at the Minnesota State Fair, we see the usual booth that provides a five year guarantee on deck floors. Many makers put verbiage on their paint cans that publicize long warranties. But when you read the fine print, we have yet to find anyone that will back up a guaranty on a common deck floor in Minnesota. Our favorite small print on the guaranty is from one manufacturer that provides a 3 year guarantee, while the deck is re-coated yearly!
The best stains are from Sherwin Williams, PPG, ICI, Glidden, Hirshfields, X-100, Floods, CWF, Deckscapes, Cabots, Sikens SRD, TWP, and others. All of them have good products, but there are no sorcery products that last seriously longer than their competitors. Be certain to use a coating that is compatible with the prior one, as this will help keep the pricetag to maintain the deck lower.
Consumer Reports is usually a good resource for many products but for staining decks their recommendation isn’t good for Minnesota. They recommend using a solid stain for best longevity, but you don’t want to do that if you’re inthis is totally wrong for Minnesota. In Minnesota, we experience a big quantity of freeze heat up cycles. When deck boards get wet and then freeze, the water expands and pushes the coating off. If the coating is a penetrating stain that doesn’t leave a film, there’s little to no coating to push off. ( less is better for decks ) As a semitransparent wears away, it seems more country. If a solid coating is applied on a horizontal surface, it will peel and look unsightly. It doesn’t look rustic, it is worn out and in disrepair. The cost to make a solid stain look great again is much higher than the pricetag to maintain a semitransparent stain because it needs scraping and sanding.
Schoenfelder Painting is a deck sealing Minneapolis company that paints or seals over five hundred decks each each year. We are adept at using most any kind of deck finishing system, but have developed some preferences. We highly recommend employing a semi transparent stain on deck floors. It is a small harder to apply, but holds up as well as anything. The best part is that it keeps looking nice even once it starts to wear off and won’t peel. Semitransparent stain is also the least expensive to redo in 2 years. It only should be washed and re-applied. Eventually it is good even after many applications, so the long run maintenance is awfully economical. Semi-transparent also comes in numerous different tints.
The railings, shafts, bottom sides and skirts can be done with the same product and color. That is how I treated the deck on my home. If you make efforts to maintain your deck every second spring, it will continue to look superb for years to come. We are proud to be your provider of commercial exterior painting Minneapolis.
The sole drawback to semitransparent stain is you can not use it over other additives or paint. If your deck was painted during the past, further prep is necessary. When this is the situation, we have a tendency to sand off the surface coating on the deck with a regular floor sander. We remove 98% of the existing stain or paint from the floor, steps and railing top. Our clients love the result. The deck surface will feel like when it was brand new. Sanding only costs about $1.25 per square foot and does not have to be done again for 10+ years. The feeling of your well maintained deck floor, priceless! So just remember that if you need deck maintenance advice, we are here for you.