Today’s backyard decks can range from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars. They can be made from exotic woods like Ipe, Mahogany or Teak or more comon woods like Cedar, Redwood, pressure-treated or not wood at all like composites or PVC. Regardless of what your deck is made from, it will need to be maintained.

Having a regular maintenance program for your deck will:

• protect your investment in your deck
• optimize your ROI
• make sure your deck always looks its best
• make sure your deck stays safe
• protect/maintain your deck against: mold and mildew; rotting; split boards; popping out nails; rotting; fading, discolouring, and staining from the tannins from leaves, etc.
• protect you against potential liability claims

And, maintaining your deck can be cheaper in the long run—especially if you extend the life of your deck by twenty per cent.

Think about deck maintenance before you build

Ideally, thinking about deck maintenance should start before construction begins because it can influence the choices you make regarding deck materials. Some decks are more expensive to maintain and will take more work. Composite decks are touted to be both lower in maintenance and to cost less to maintain.

Being honest with yourself at this stage makes a lot of sense. Are you going to have the time and inclination to do the work yourself? Will you hire someone? One customer came to us because they did not maintain their deck for several years because they didn’t know a professional they could hire and just didn’t get around to doing the research necessary to find one. Knowing up front may help you to decide on the best deck for you—composite or wood, exotic (e.g., Ipe) or traditional (e.g., cedar). Different types of decks have different lifespans. Their cost to maintain can also vary significantly.

Inspecting your deck

The material of the deck notwithstanding, inspecting the construction, natural wear and tear, and expected maintenance issues should also be done. What state is your deck currently in? Not maintained? Has your deck been poorly maintained or not maintained correctly? What needs to be inspected? For a complete overview of what a professional might inspect for see Nadra Deck Checklist  Not trying to be all inclusive in any way, here are some things that will needed to be checked: Hardware: Is there rust evident? Have nails popped? Deck boards, railings and support beams and ledger: Check for decay, insect damage, splitting, rotting or mildew, popped up nails, raised areas, etc.

Depending on the condition of your deck, the work that your deck requires may vary considerably and you may need or want to bring in a professional. The condition of your deck will indicate what’s needed ranging from major repairs, if it has been neglected or damaged, to needing to be stripped and sanded, re-stained and resealed, or just needing a good cleaning and maintenance coat. I should mention that wood and composite decks are maintained differently and I will make some differentiations between the two below.

Basic steps for maintaining a wood deck

1. 1. Cleaning, sweeping, debris removal
   2. Basic washing without chemicals—basically getting the deck ready for inspection
   3. Inspection
   4. Repairing
   5. Chemical washing
   6. Sanding if required
   7. Restaining or sealing with a coloured penetrating oil e.g., Cutek

Maintaining a composite deck

For composite deck maintenance we thought that there would be nothing better than going straight to the horse’s mouth and we have excerpted this entire section from a Trex Publication:

“TREX® DECKING AND RAILING GENERAL CARE AND CLEANING GUIDE (TRADITIONAL COMPOSITE AND PVC)“.

Trex has different instructions depending on the Trex products that you may have. It goes without sayng therefore that you should check the instructions for your specific products—whether Trex or another manufacturer. The purpose here is to give you a general guideline and not to provide you with specific maintenance instructions.