Prepping, Coating & Maintaining Wood Decks
Hi Russ, we want to freshen up our wood deck and are a little overwhelmed with the different advice available online. Could you help? – R.N.
Hi R.N., I’ve submitted your question to one of our professionals at Kingfisher Painting who was more than happy to help. – Russ
TO CONSIDER
- Walking surfaces should be regularly maintained, we recommend annually or bi-annually depending on exposure.
- Different coatings will specify different maintenance cycles. Use the product recommendation as a guide coupled with your own inspections.
- A walking surface that is not exposed to sun or standing water and has little traffic could go 3 years or more. Inspect regularly.
- Keep deck free of debris, specifically vegetative debris like rotting leaves, pine needles, etc. It is important to keep gaps between boards open and clear to allow for proper drainage and air flow. This is something to especially pay attention to in the fall. Don’t let water pool and stand.
- If you have a north facing or heavily shaded deck it may be prone to mildew growth. Mildew should be cleaned every 6 months to a year. If left it will stain and could eventually compromise the coating. Mildew can be treated with a mild bleach solution (5-10%). Soak the mildew with the bleach solution, agitate, leave for 10 minutes and then thoroughly rinse.
- Decks that are built too close to the ground and do not have sufficient air flow will be prone to coating failure.
- If building a deck from scratch, coat all six sides of the material with your coating prior to construction.
PREPPING A WEATHERED CEDAR DECK WITH NO COATING ON IT



PREPPING A WEATHERED CEDAR DECK WITH COATING ON IT


KINGFISHER'S PREFERRED PRODUCTS




Great looking, green product, relatively easy to apply. Comes in Transparent, Semi-Transparent, Semi-Solid, and Solid. Can be applied to wood with up to 21% moisture content which is great for a quick turnaround after your washing. Available through Lumberworld in Victoria.
Great looking translucent stains, wide colour range, custom tints, green product. Available through Pacific Paints, Keating X Rd location only.
One of our standby options is Cloverdale Sharkskin Deck and Siding Stain. It’s a waterborne alkyd making it fairly durable, and it’s a good bang for the buck. It is less prone to flashing (sheen differences where paint has overlapped) than other waterborne alkyds such as Flood or SuperDeck.
Surface preparation is a crucial first step to ensure a beautiful and lasting wood finish. FLOOD® Wood Care offers products for preparing all types of wood, and for cleaning stained or resurfaced wood between applications.
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Russ was great at working with us and making suggestions to help us get the features we wanted within our budget.Joslyn McDonald
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