How To Clean A Composite Or Wood Deck

How To Clean Composite Decking

Bottom line, older TREX, TimberTech, and other wood content composites should be bleached and brightened. Please contact the manufacturer or read the literature that came with your decking if you have any doubts on power washing. A power washer can create serious damage to a composite deck if the pressure is too high, an inappropriate nozzle is used, and/or the nozzle is held too close to the surface. Always start in an inconspicuous area when power washing to test that it is not damaging the decking. The safest course will always be to hand wash your composite decking.

Decking & Railing Duos

He or she should use a relatively low pressure-setting and a wide fan, with the power washer held at least two feet off the ground. This can be a good way to deep clean your deck and get embedded dirt out, but you don’t want to have a professional power wash your deck too frequently . For the most part, you can clean your deck on a regular basis without using a power washer.

• Many of the composite companies use wood content in them as well.
• To maintain the beauty of your Trex® deck, a little care and cleaning goes a long way.
• Often, the only maintenance composite decking requires is an occasional power washing.
• All exterior building materials require cleaning and a Trex deck is no different.
• Composite decks on the other hand, offer a lower level of all-around maintenance – they won’t splinter and you don’t need to worry about periodic staining, painting or sealing projects.
• For early-generation composite products (Trex Accents®, Trex Origins®, Trex Contours®, Trex Profiles® or Trex Brasilia®), we recommend a semi-annual cleaning with a composite deck cleaner.

The Composite Deck Cleaning Process

Wood decks are especially vulnerable to power washing, because the pressure exerted by the power washer can lead to splintering. If there is any area on the deck where the wood is already beginning to split apart, power washing it will exacerbate the problem and cause the split area to expand. While you may be tempted to wait until your next routine cleaning to remove the food, it should be done immediately or else staining might result. Make sure you're extra careful when pressure washing.This material is softer than natural wood and therefore can be etched more easily. Once it has been damaged, other issues such as chipping, sun damage and mold staining of the interior plastic can arise.

Avoid this costly mistake by choosing a non-toxic, sodium percarbonate based cleaner. If this is the first time you have cleaned your deck it’s possible that there are deep set mold stains that the solution didn’t reach. They may rise to the surface at some point and need cleaning again.

Design & Price

If the previous stains are still in tact, you may need to use our Stain Stripper instead of the cleaner. How do I order the Deck Cleaner and the Sealer? I have a twenty year old deck and would like to bring it to life again. The original color was Saddle, but some of the wood have faded. Would you recommend a power wash first or should I just use the cleaner.? There are some stains that I would need to remove though. You don’t have to seal the surface once it’s been cleaned, but I suggest you do.

Many of the composite companies use wood content in them as well. is referring to was the original TREX which was Red Oak which is a hard wood that leaves a dark black tannin. Anyone who has had to clean off oak leaf stains from concrete can attest to that.

Be very careful so that you use only ammonia free dish soap. Otherwise, if ammonia is mixed with bleach, it can create toxic fumes. Once you’ve blended your mixture, swab it on your deck and rinse it clean with water. Keep a safe distance between the power washer and the deck surface. We recommend staying a minimum of 6” away from the surface. This should be enough to remove any dirt without damaging the composite decking.

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