Power Cleaning Your Deck

Pressure Washer (Photo credit: Goins)

Men appear to enjoy gear that makes noise, is powerful and saves time. A pressure washer can fit that bill just fine. But it can also ruin your wood deck! Why? Because most people don’t use the power washer properly and use it with excessive a water pressure (this is the “power” part) and hold the tip too close to the soft wood.

An electrical washer could be powerful enough to etch brick or gentle enough to clean siding. They come in various sizes, some providing over 4,000 psi (pounds per square inch) of water pressure some only a few hundred, some are run by gas engines, some by small electric motors, there are a number of pressure wand tips that can handle a variety of tasks.

Using a power washer to deep clean a wood deck can be done successfully but there a lot of problem reports in regards to a power washer becoming a power etcher when improperly utilized on wood. The result of improper power washing? Well it may require wood replacement or result in a ruined deck at its worst and require serious sanding at best.

In this tutorial we’ll review the few tips to successful power washer use on the wood deck:

* Pressure Selection
* Tip Selection
* Power Washing Technique
* Post Washing Sanding

Power Washing: Pressure and Tip Selection

Since the power washer is really versatile and can supply for so many different tasks, they are available in many pressure ratings and tip styles depending on their intended application.

I recommend the next pressure and tip options for cleaning wood:

• Use as low a pressure as possible yet still be effective
• Pressure for soft wood like cedar or pine ought to be at about 500 psi to 600 psi, harder woods might have to go higher but forget about that 1200-1500 psi
• Make use of a fan tip (preferable) or carefully make use of a rotating tip (shown here)
• Begin the water pressure by depressing the trigger from people and glass windows and at least 24″ from the wood deck, then feathering it into range of about 12-18″ from the deck
• As a rule of thumb, try to never get closer than 12″ in the wood deck unless you’re at low pressure.
• Test out your pressure and it is effectiveness in as inconspicuous an area as you possibly can. Perhaps a stair tread. Should you mess up and also have to change a piece of wood because you etched it, a stair tread is simpler to replace than the usual deck board.

Power Washing Technique

Here are some strategies for proper power washing technique.

• As mentioned earlier, you will most usually make use of a fan tip about the power washer. Fan tip dimensions are measured in degrees, with a 40 to 60 degree tip size being standard for deck cleaning.
• Set your pressure to 600 psi to determine if that will work for you. Boost the pressure incrementally when needed to wash the deck but not damage or etch the wood surface.
• Engage the trigger a few feet away from the deck surface and and then lower the wand to about 12″ from the surface and clean the deck utilizing a sweeping motion.
• While you sweep you’ll have a tendency to pivot together with your arm but and build inconsistent distance of the tip in the deck surface. Attempt to keep a consistent distance while you sweep. You can do this by moving your arm laterally back and forth.
• Work from the house outward.
• Work with the grain by feathering your spraying lengthwise with the deck boards and overlapping each area slightly. The hot button is you want an even cleaning with no hot spots or visible “cleaning edges.

Coping with raised Wood Fibers

The key with power washing a wood deck is to not ruin the wood and etch or erode the soft wood fibers. However, wood is wood and when wood gets wet, it raises the fibers creating a rough surface. This is particularly a problem on handrails in which the raised fibers = splinters.

You have a couple of different choices. One, if you did a fantastic job with minimal damage and you simply wanted to clean the deck, then you may be capable of geting away with only having to spot sand in some places. Two, if you are going to refinish (re-stain or reseal) the deck, you probably should sand it.

I know, I understand, you don’t want to. But believe me, it is not very difficult and can result in smooth boards, little to no splintering, opening wood pores so the deck stain soaks into the wood, and all sorts of types of good stuff.

When sanding, do not use too fine a grit sandpaper or the deck stain / sealer will not soak in easily. Follow these guidelines:

• For the handrail, use no greater than 80 grit sandpaper
• For the deck surface itself, use a 60-80 grit sandpaper
• Use a random orbital sander having a 5″ pad or and osborne brush.

About the Author: Xtreme Maintenance operates their deck and fence staining service out of Helena, Montana. You can visit their site at xtrememaintenance.com or call them at 406-465-9334 for  a free no obligation quote.

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