subject: Getting Your Deck Ready For Winters Fury ; Maintenance Tips To Keep Your Deck Beautiful! [print this page] It's that time of the year again especially for those of us in a Northern climate ( Indiana checking in! ). The grass no longer needs mowed, the patio furniture is getting put away and the leaves have all but vanished from the trees. Winter is rapidly approaching and ready to rear its head! Of the many things we do to prepare for Winter each and every year very few people take into consideration what an outdoor deck may need. Think about it. Throughout Spring, Summer and Fall we utilize our decks as an extention of our home. They become an outdoor kitchen, bedroom and living room all in one as we prepare meals, catch a quick nap or entertain yet we don't clean them even a fraction of what we do for their indoor counterparts.
All of this "living" no doubt takes it toll on the decks surface and will leave behind months of dirt, debris and general fallout that will remain there through the Winter if not cleaned off. What can this accumulated "yuck" do over the course of a Winter you ask? Ultimately it will accelerate the wear and tear on the decks surface and/or finish. Both composite decks as well as wood decks are easily stained by these contaminants and the sooner you perform a deck cleaning the better the results will be.
Leaves for instance left on a deck have a soluble acid in them called tannic acid otherwise known as tannin. Most of us have encountered tannin but don't even realize it. For example; when you find a wet pile of leaves in your yard or on your driveway in Indiana you will almost always find a "tea" like lquid that has brewed in and near the bottom of the pile. This liquid (or tannin) forms when moisture absorbs into the leaf material making the tannic acid soluble thereby creating a run off of tannin to the underlying surface. This run off on a deck is the number one cause of stains and discolorations in wood and composite decks. When leaves are left on the decks surface over the course of a winter these stains and discolorations can be virtually impossible to remove without an extensive deck cleaning and refinishing process. By removing leaf debris at regular intervals and just prior to Winter you can keep the staining and discoloration issues to a minumum.
Dirt and other debris accumulated on a deck will also cause wear and tear on the surface. Dirt left over the course of a Winter can be ground into the pores of the wood or composite further not only making cleaning of the deck more difficult but also encouraging mold and mildew issues come Spring. A gentle cleaning of the deck following Fall will substantially reduce these issues and keep your deck looking beautifull for many years to come.
