Just having a bit of fun testing a few colors on this old wood deck on Palisades Ave. on Pleasure Point. Love our work on outdoor wood decks. Endless referrals furnished upon request.
Santa Cruz Deck Staining
Shingle Maintenance
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Hardwood Deck San Lorenzo Valley.
Every couple years we make it better than new. It’s more cost effective that way. Every deck will have different maintenance needs.
Three parts earth brown, one part Driftwood Grey, half part Crystal Clear.
Four year old entry way deck. Monte Sereno, California. Just a rail shot.
Redwood Deck Maintenance, Santa Cruz County, Los Gatos and beyond
Shingles Maintenance, Custom Deck Staining
..Or in this deck’s case, morning rain and pollen, followed by afternoon sun. 14 year old South Facing Ipe deck that really battles the outdoor elements.
Truckee, Lake Tahoe, Los Gatos, Santa Cruz & Monterey Counties. Custom Wood Deck & Shingle Maintenance.
This is one of my favorite little decks in Santa Cruz County. It resides in Aptos, CA up behind the New Leaf Foods. We have been maintaining it since it was installed new in 2006. My best guess is that it has been stained 6x in 15 years. It gets direct HOT sun for about six hours per day. I am told it beads water all year round. Does your new deck do that?
Cleaning Santa Cruz is full service pressure washing company servicing Santa Cruz County and beyond. In business since May 2001, give us a call or send us an email for ALL your deck maintenance needs.
I love working on this Ipe’ deck in the Seascape area of Aptos. It gets a ton of sun when there is sun. So every couple years it washes up very nicely leaving a very neutral canvas to play with tones. This is a fancy swatch with a secret tone using a very high end transparent water-borne stain. For a while there it was reds and cedars. This time around it was more browns etc. The finished look was beautiful as you can only imagine from this Gucci swatch.
It’s Never Too Late
Santa Cruz Deck Maintenance
Hardwood Deck – Felton, Calif
Extreme Stain by Defy, Custom Redwood Blend
Because I charge way too much for it, it’s just a given that the homeowner will have the deck(s) entirely cleared of all “stuff” before I show up to begin work. But if you can’t clear it all off and need some help…
Deck Maintenance
Between the Boards
Namaste
Basic rear deck in Santa Cruz California that is obviously clogged with debris, making water runoff impossible. Many times boards that have been built too close to one another, after years and years, will fuse together, making the removable of debris a potential impossibility. This wasn’t the case for this eight year old deck on 14th Avenue. If you’re having a new deck built, make sure your builder knows how to properly space the boards for the long haul.
Of course you do, but explain what you mean!?! Which slice of natural do you want your brand new deck to look like? Do you want it to look exactly like it did or does the day it was completed? Do you want it to look like the guy or gal who built it says it should look? Natural Blonde or Brunette? Naturally Grey perhaps? Do you want it to look natural today and tomorrow? What about in six months, still natural? What about six years?
It’s Relative and It’s For Real
It’s Relative and It’s For RealCustom Deck Maintenance in Santa Cruz
Shingles, Arbors, Fences, Privacy Areas
Whole House
These photos were taken during a washing process. Both taken early in the morning. One with the sun behind the lens, and the other looking into the sun. You can see that the washed and unwashed portion of this deck in Live Oak takes on a different look depending on time of day, direction, and the list goes on. The same kaleidoscope phenomenon will also become present when a quality stain is ultimately applied to these clean boards. Capice?
Beautifully constructed deck in the Santa Cruz Mountains. This is the landing portion of the staircase that connects the upper and lower portions of the deck.
It should be noted that this style of rail construction will not only provide a better view and a better feel, but will also save you big time $$ with maintenance.
Note to all Deck Builders.
Space out the boards properly or you are doing your client a major disservice in the end. The boards need to be separated beyond the old school of thought that suggested the separation needs to be no wider than the width of the nail or screw heads that are being used to build the deck. How much wider depends on many factors. Too many factors to mention actually. Just make sure they are spaced out properly for long term wear/tear and of course maintenance. And while you are at it, you might suggest softening the edges for your client. Softening along the boards, AND the ends of the boards make so much difference in look and feel.
*Here’s a real nice example in Capitola. I could have chosen perhaps a more relatable measuring device like the depth of an iPhone8 inside one of those fat Otterbox cases, not the iPhone8 itself. And there in lies the difference!
Are You Ready? Alpine Meadows, CA
These are steps obviously. These steps lead up to a front door. They are used fairly regularly though not everyday, all day. The steps get filtered afternoon sun. The steps were built in summer 2018, and a few months after being built, the client wanted them stained with a very dark tone that the stain manufacturer calls Butternut. It turned out beautiful. To die for actually.
Fast forward one year, and just one year and this is what the steps look like. Warn down in the middle of each and every step yet holding stain nicely on both sides of the middle. Could this have been prevented?
The answer is Yes and No.
Santa Cruz Aptos Soquel Seascape Scotts Valley Felton Live Oak Capitola
This is Batu Hardwood, AKA Mangaris This is the lower deck which for the great most part is completely sheltered from both rain and sun. That being said, I used a very neutral tone with significantly less pigment. The end result was(is) an extremely well protected deck with a very natural look. There’s that word again.
This brand new deck in Santa Cruz was a pleasure and challenge wrapped into one. Springtime proved to be way too consistently variable with heavy rains and winds during the three week span it took me to properly wash and stain this Clear Cedar Deck near Steamer Lane.
These pictures are both taken around 11am after one of the heavier springtime Santa Cruz storms in decades. I chose to showcase them side by side because they tell one of the more important stories regarding deck maintenance. For another time…..
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Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, Felton, Boulder Creek