alright what did people do before power washers? about sealing deck

[bornthrifty]

certainly all of mankind did not power wash the deck then seal it?
or did they,lol

I have a treated lumber deck that I think I ought to seal just to help the wood last longer, (I am thinking that if the water doesn't soak in that would help the wood?)

anyhow I am bout to do my every few years or so power wash and then I slap some clear water sealer on it and I guess it helps


does it?
is it worth it?
is there a better way?
is power washing necessary, (I actually power washed last fall and ran out of time to seal it then...)

any thoughts or tricks would be greatly appreciated

thanks

 

[old fashioned]

scrub brush, bucket of soapy water & strong back

okay so I'm not much help, sorry

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Yeah, as kids we'd have to scrub the deck by hand! We desperately need to seal our deck this year too!!

 

[bornthrifty]

ok so last fall we used a low powered electric power washer to wash the deck

the neighbor who wanted to make some money off of us tried to tell us that was no good, and we must use a high powered one to clean the deck...you know the one's that seem to tear up the wood

ok we can power wash again

any recommendations on what to seal with?

 

[patandchickens]

Well, for one thing decks are about 1,000 times more common now than they were thirty-plus years ago... (trying to think of anyone who had a deck when I was growing up in the 'burbs outside Philly in the late 60s and the 70s... totally failing to come up with a single example...)

But, yeah. Just scrub it as good as you can by hand, and let it dry well, and there ya go.

Good luck, have "fun" ,

Pat

 

[KevsFarm]

Yeah right..Philly style...lol sounds like a nice job....

 

[Marianne]

Years ago we used baking soda and a stiff push broom to scrub our deck. Then tried auto dish detergent and said broom but I was freaking out because of plants and koi pond close by.

Finally we bought a small power washer and that was the easiest way to get the job done. We used Thompson's water seal, I think.

Now we're rural, and a bit of chicken poo and mud decorate the decks. I try not to notice it.

 

[~gd]

Well, for one thing decks are about 1,000 times more common now than they were thirty-plus years ago... (trying to think of anyone who had a deck when I was growing up in the 'burbs outside Philly in the late 60s and the 70s... totally failing to come up with a single example...)

But, yeah. Just scrub it as good as you can by hand, and let it dry well, and there ya go.

Good luck, have "fun" ,

Pat

Uh Pat did you forget that Ships had decks for ages? Even steel ships used to have a wooden deck laid over the steel for better footing,
Six days shalt thou labor and do all thou art able,
And on the seventhholystone the decks and scrape the cable.
Holystone was a form of sandstone long before sandpaper. The old tars claimed that the name came from getting down on your knees to use.
Being lazy, I always used a belt sander with a 80-100 grit belt. Sand with the board. not across it. Treat with raw linseed which will soak into the bare wood (and carry pigment if extra color is wanted, Don't use a dye based stain the sun will fade it in 90 days or so) A clear seal then can be applied, I like to use a mix of linseed oil, UV blockers and polyurethane, It is tought and usually lasts for 6 years.

 

[patandchickens]

Uh Pat did you forget that Ships had decks for ages?

Er, obviously not, but I thought we were talking about BACKYARD decks not ships decks.

The age-old solution for ships' decks is almost totally irrelevant to BACKYARD decks (i.e. -- build of very very resistant wood, and apply nasty substances periodically by means of vast amounts of manual labor that good luck gettin' your spouse or kids to do anything like THAT today) (e.t.a. - when I was a little kid, the guy who lived across the street was ex-Navy, had been an acting vice admiral or somehting like that in WWII but naturally had not *started* at that rank and had plenty of stories to recount about the amount of sheer hard grunt-work involved in the upkeep of even modern (meaning, WWI and WWII) ships...)

If ships' decks were traditionally made of spruce or pine (even pressure treated), with Thompsons Water Seal or the like slapped on every year or two, after a pressure wash or good scrubbing... uh, major maritime trade would never have developed and human civilzation would probably never have gotten TO the point of having backyard decks to worry about resealing

Pat

 

[old fashioned]

Before the common backyard deck, people did usually have some kind of porch whether it was just a step or full length or somewhere in between and usually have some kind of roof over it and may or not be enclosed with sides. It would still need cleaning, just not sure if there was a preventative seal available at the time. Possibly 'whitewash' (whatever that is?), or paint.
Nowadays it's Thompson or Behr or somesuch.