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A deck is an extension of your home, and it makes a terrific place to enjoy the outdoors with your loved ones. From placing potted plants, playing with your pets, relaxing with your family to hosting a party, it receives a lot of traffic throughout the day. With so much action happening on your home deck, you have to ensure that it is maintained and cleaned properly. Power washing your deck is an excellent way to give it a refreshing appearance, and with summers setting in, it’s great weather to undertake this project. But before you rush, there are a few tips to consider especially if you are a newbie with power washing.
1. Remove all your furniture: One of the obvious things you need to do is to secure and move all the furniture on your deck to a safer place. We understand this can be a tedious task, but this will prevent accidental damage to the furniture by the high-pressure power wash. If your furniture is made out of wood, the water can dampen the wood and make it rot, or fall apart in due course of time.
2. Place a tarp underneath the deck: Like most people, if you have tons of things stored underneath the deck, then place a tarp sheet to protect the things from the water that may seep through the gaps. This preparation before you begin power-washing is way less exhausting than handling the wet storage items.
3. Sweep the deck well: Once you have moved all the furniture out, sweep off any dust, or debris before you get ready to power wash the deck. There is no harm in leaving this step out, but many times, the high pressure of the water causes the soaked debris to fly around. You can avoid this by simply sweeping the deck as a preparation to start the project.
4. Check the nozzle size: For power washing, there are a variety of nozzles or washer heads available in the market, and each of these has a unique purpose in terms of washing. You must choose the right nozzle based on whether you want a wide stream spray or a narrower one. A tip to remember, the narrower the stream of the spray, the more forceful is the pressure of the water. These kinds of washer heads are suitable when you want to remove stubborn stains or grime from a specific area of the deck.
5. Choose the soap solution wisely: As you might imagine, there are tons of liquid soaps available that you can use while power washing your deck. However, the selection of the soap that you wish to use, should depend on the material of the deck. In most cases, liquid dish soap which is ammonia-free mixed in hot water is enough to clean almost all sorts of deck materials. If you still have some stubborn stains that are refusing to come off, then you may have to use certain material-approved chemicals.
6. Hire a professional: We understand the DIY videos have inspired you to undertake this project and handle it on your own. It’s always recommended to hire a local renovation contractor because they have the expertise and experience in handling these kinds of jobs. They can save you time, money, and all the effort that you would be required to put in, from preparing the deck, purchasing the chemicals, and equipment, and then performing the task.
For your power washing needs don’t hesitate to contact remodeling contractors in CT to get a free estimate.
