Most people thing that it takes a professional contractor to repair an old St louis deck builders . It can’t be further from the truth. Yes, it is true that sometimes you will need to employ a pro, but most of the time you should be able to tackle the job yourself if you have the proper tools and the drive to learn the skills needed.
A deck that is damaged from neglect doesn’t do much for the home. It neither looks good nor is of any use to anybody. It is a place that is not safe and should be attended to immediately. The longer you let it slide the worse it is going to get. If you let it be it will cost you much more in the end especially if someone gets injured because of it.
My motto is that if you have a deck you should take the time to maintain it so you never have to be in this type of a situation. Now, don’t get me wrong, I know that sometimes it can’t be avoided so learning these skills is a great place to start. Wooden decks are the ones that will require the most scrutiny when looking into a repair job. Neglected wood has a tendency to rot, so go over your deck carefully and check for rot damage.
Discolored wood is not a big deal and can easily be remedied, but rotten wood needs to be replaced. Getting the job done is nothing more than a little hard work and determination to see the job through. Look for any nails that are sticking out of the boards. Removing them and replacing them with a deck screw that is slightly larger than the nail will ensure a snug fit.
Discolored wood can be cleaned using oxygen bleach. It is a much better choice than conventional bleach because it is non toxic to plants or animals. Simply apply it to the wood with a sprayer and brush it in making sure it stays moist for approximately 20 minutes and the rinse it off.
Wait for the deck to dry before you add a stain or some other deck sealant. I recommend using a sealer that has a stain in it to help block the sun’s rays from turning the wood black again. It used to be that the darker the stain the better it worked for blocking UV rays, but there has been some amazing advancements in deck sealer that now allows you to buy any color you desire.
