How to Pressure Wash a Deck
A deck always makes for a nice addition to your property. For homeowners, it gives you a wonderful place to host barbecues and parties. For business owners, it provides your customers with outside dining and a unique way to relax. However, no deck is relaxing when it’s covered with debris. If that’s the condition that your deck is in, you’ll begin to wonder what the best way to clean the structure is. We recommend pressure washing, but you may be wondering how to pressure wash a deck in the first place.
We are Soda City Pressure Washing, and we are your local deck cleaning professionals in Columbia, SC. In this blog, we’ll teach you more about decks, how you can pressure wash them, and whether you should do this work on your own or schedule an appointment with the professionals.
Why Do Decks Need to Be Pressure Washed?
Before we tell you how to pressure wash a deck, you need to understand why decks need to be pressure washed in the first place. What would happen if you just ignored your deck? At first, nothing. However, as time progresses, you will eventually realize that your deck is accumulating a shocking amount of debris. This includes dirt, pollen, moss, mold, and algae. Some of these substances will even reproduce and spread if you don’t get rid of them. In other words, by not pressure washing your deck, a bad problem could very well become worse.
How often should your deck be pressure washed? We highly recommend that it be cleaned once per year. This prevents debris from accumulating to an excessive degree and allows you to keep your deck in the best-looking condition possible.
Avoiding Surface Damage With Pressure Washing
If you wait too long to pressure wash your deck, it will eventually become filthy. This won’t just make the structure ugly, though. It will also put it at a greater risk of damage. This is because particles of debris grind against surfaces over time. This damage will be microscopic in scale at first. Eventually, though, it will become more visible, manifesting as holes, cracks, or leaks.
Repairing this damage isn’t always cheap. You’re better off preventing it from happening in the first place. Because of this, we highly recommend you have your deck cleaned once per year. You’ll save money in the long run this way.
Required Equipment For Deck Cleaning
If you want to learn how to pressure wash a deck, you’ll also need to understand the necessary equipment for the job. At Soda City Pressure Washing, we work with these tools each and every day, so we’ll provide you with a simple checklist for your convenience. Of course, you’ll have to purchase a pressure washer, which takes normal water and pressurizes it for all your surface cleaning needs. This device typically comes with an attaching hose, allowing you to aim the spray wherever you need.
We also recommend that you use cleaning solutions such as sodium hypochlorite when you come across tough grime. These cleaners will break down this filth so it can be more easily removed. Finally, don’t forget safety gear, such as eye protection, gloves, and closed-toe shoes. Cover your skin to protect it from pressurized water whenever you can.
Preparing the Deck For Pressure Washing
With all the equipment gathered, it’s time to prepare the deck for pressure washing. You’ll want to remove any items on its surface so they don’t get in the way of your work. So, choose a safe location where you can temporarily move furniture, grills, decorations, and other objects. Then, pick them up and relocate them! This allows you to thoroughly pressure wash your deck without having to worry about obstacles.
Next, you’ll need to choose an appropriate amount of water pressure for the project. The correct choice depends on the material your deck is made of. We’ve included a handy list of the most common materials below.
- Composite: 500–1000 PSI
- Softwood: 1000–1500 PSI
- Hardwood: 1500–2000 PSI
- Metal: 2000–2500 PSI
Pressure Washing the Deck
At long last, it’s time to discover how to pressure wash a deck. As you’ll soon discover, the process is actually quite simple. Choose a starting point on the deck. (We recommend one of its corners.) Then, pressure wash a row of the deck all the way to the opposite corner. Once you’ve done this, move on to the next row, slightly overlapping the previous pass. From this point onward, all you have to do is rinse and repeat until you’ve pressure washed the entire deck!
What should you do if you come across stubborn debris that you can’t seem to wash away? We highly recommend that you use cleaning solutions. For example, by applying a thin layer of sodium hypochlorite to the dirty area, you’ll quickly break down all grime. Then, with some simple touch-up pressure washing, you’ll be able to rinse away all debris in a flash.
DIY or Professional Deck Cleaning?
Learning how to pressure wash a deck on your own isn’t exactly easy. It requires a lot of time and energy to learn how to pressure wash a deck, and purchasing all the necessary equipment can take a chunk out of your wallet. These are just a few of the obstacles that prevent people from cleaning decks on their own. If you aren’t prepared to take on this work, don’t worry because you can always reach out to Soda City Pressure Washing for the help that you need.
We are a locally owned and operated business, and it is always our pleasure to serve our community’s property owners. By scheduling an appointment with us, you won’t have to do any of the physical labor involved with deck pressure washing. Instead, you can sit back and relax while our experts do the work for you. Contact us online today if you would like to schedule an appointment. We’ll even provide you with a free cost estimate at no cost.