With winter just around the corner, it’s time for homeowners to clean up and “put away” their outdoor decks for the season. It’s also common for contractors to receive calls to help with this project—especially when structural damage is suspected. By conducting a thorough deck review, you can ensure that even the worst winters never gain a destructive edge on this very important part of a home.
If you do encounter deck problems such as dirt, grime, or material defects, you can mitigate them with a combination of simple, practical maintenance steps and, in some cases, heavier repair and replacement work. The latter will probably mean replacing damaged deck flooring, boards, and other structural elements. You can then easily reinstall replacements for these with tools such as BECK's SCRAIL® INVISIDECK® System of invisible, removable nail screw fastners and pneumatic nailer.
For thorough winter deck prepping, here are our recommended steps:
At its most basic, cleaning means sweeping the deck entirely of leaves and grime. It might also mean giving it a thorough pressure washing and scrubbing down to remove any accumulated mildew or deep-seated deposits. Once clean, you will clearly see how the structure itself looks. Make sure to take a note if your cleaning reveals any rotten or broken and cracked spots that were concealed.
This next step requires you to go around and underneath the entire structure to observe how it's doing in terms of rotten sections, rust, loose joints, and cracked structural elements (especially along the key supporting structures and the deck surface itself). Also keep a close eye on how well the deck sealant, paint job, or stain work is doing to make sure it hasn't flaked off or worn through.
Once you've assessed your deck's overall soundness (or lack of it), you can begin your basic prep work for a repair and maintenance job. This might include sanding or pressure washing away flaking paint and stain, removing rotten and damaged structural elements, and removing rusted joining materials like screws, nails, and brackets.
Having fully assessed the deck for any possible damage, it’s time to repair or replace what you found. Pay special attention to the safety parts of the deck. These include its railings, floorboards, and underlying supports. If any of these are damaged in any way, they should be the top priority, and at the very least be repaired or more likely, replaced.
Make it easier on yourself and your client by reinstalling new deck boards with Beck's SCRAIL® INVISIDECK® nail screw fasteners and pneumatic gun system. INVISDECK® not only lets you reinstall deck surfaces much faster than conventional screwing techniques, but it's also extremely rugged and weather resistant. What's more, the nail screw fasteners themselves are fully removable, making any future repair and replacement work much easier.
Decks don't need to be repainted and re-stained before each winter. In fact, if they were well built and covered in quality paint or staining materials, they should be good to go for years at a time. However, eventually, these protective coverings will fail and then it’s time to repaint or re-stain. To do this properly, you should have already prepped the space as mentioned above. The paint or stain you choose should offer a maximum level of protection against snow, ice, water, and grime penetration of wood.
Finally, as a general precaution for minimizing future wear and tear, explain to your client that they should practice good deck protection against the elements. This means letting them know about frequent deck cleaning, deck covering for when it's not in use for weeks at a time and making sure to sweep away accumulated snow or plant matter during the winter and fall months.
Lastly, be sure to keep the SCRAIL® INVISIDECK® System on hand for future deck work. This SCRAIL® system lets you build beautiful spaces without damaging the underlying plank surface while also allowing I-CLP clip installation several times faster than with traditional methods. INVISIDECK® is firmly designed for both rapid, easy installation and quick removal during future repair work.