Scotts Valley, California
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These are pretty unique pictures I thought. Just different angles with different sun producing different colors and consequently different looks. Aaahhh..the beauty of transparents. The darker portions of the deck have already been stained and that stain has fully cured. The rails looked fine from last year and didn’t need new stain.(except the top piece of course!!) This is 100% redwood tone on approx. ten year old boards. This is about the fifth time I’ve stained this particular deck. Better than new……
Before the pressure washing occurs on any wood deck, it’s crucial to clear out the spaces between the boards. Here’s a look at a 15 year old wood deck in the Scotts Valley area. After the spaces have been cleaned, the pressure washing can begin.
I can’t stress enough how important this part of the deck maintenance process is. Don’t expect this type of AAA service from just any pressure washing firm you happen to dial out of the yellow pages or the like. It just doesn’t work like that. This my friends is how the Pros do it!
A chair or two I can knock out n/c as part of the overall job. I’ll add value to just about every job I do. However, a whole fleet of quality outdoor furniture is another story. Truth is..furniture like this takes quite a bit of effort to clean, but the end result is stunning.
Results are key you know!!!
This Cumaru deck located in Monterey Ca is about four years old. The owner mentioned that Penofin Oil was used at some point maybe a few years back. Gads! Another Penofin Plunder. My opinion says Penofin is a very nasty, old fashioned sort of product and shouldn’t be used on beautiful hardwood like Cumaru or Ipe’ or the like. It’s time to get with the times! There was virtually no product left on this particular deck when I was asked to take it over. .
7:30 pm. No sunlight. Complete. Biowash Natural Deck Oil.(Special Cumaru Blend)
Not Sticky, Not Stinky
organic
Cumaru Deck
Monterey, CA
The drying time of any wood deck that has been freshly stained depends on a number of factors. These factors, combined with the method by which the stain is applied, will ultimately determine when the boards are dry. We typically tell our clients to stay off the deck for 24 hours, yet if the deck gets a strong shot of direct sun…it’s pretty good to go within a few hours. Here’s a freshly stained deck on the Pasatiempo Golf Course. Notice the decks’benches in the foreground waiting their turn at some LOVE.
If this deck could talk it would say that it liked how this cleaning process was going and that it was happy that the filth in between the boards were being cleaned out and that it doesn’t know how anybody can even live with themselves if they had a neglected wood deck such as this and that the color of the cleaned wood in both these pictures is a very nice color indeed but that once the wood dries it won’t look quite as sharp, but that once you put a natural transparent stain back on, it will even look better than it does wet.
This is par for any course, and the remedy is simple:
Put the umbrella holder right back in its home!
If you have a wood deck in Santa Cruz County, it is highly recommended to have your deck maintained annually. If there was one question that was asked more than other question as it pertains to maintenance, it is whether or not the rails need to be maintained annually. I usually answer that by saying NO, however the top 2×6 that caps the railing should definitely be maintained as often as the deck itself. Basically, if the board sits horizontally, it weathers much, much quicker than any vertical board. This picture of a railing in Pasatiempo best exemplifies that. We came back to this deck after two years, and all the vertical posts were still handling stain quite well, yet the top piece was obviously in need of a cleaning and some more Biowash Natural Deck Oil.
Many Santa Cruz County residents have turned to Ipe’ outdoor wood decking. Biowash Natural Deck Oil works fabulous on it too. The days of thinking Penofin or some other nasty mixture would work best on this very dense hardwood, are long gone. I maintain my share of Ipe’ decks throughout Santa Cruz, especially Aptos and Scotts Valley, and and I will tell you that although Ipe’ is supposed to last like 50 years untreated or something crazy like that, I wouldn’t take that route because its beauty and simplicity make this Brazilian Hardwood like no other. I highly suggest taking pretty good care of it. Because it’s so hard, you can easily get away with maintaining it every 3 or 4 years or so..but just like everything else in life, it all depends on how bad-ass you want your Ipe’ deck to be.
To beat the sun, I had to begin staining this five year old deck very early in the a.m. I didn’t stain the rails this year as they didn’t need it and typically don’t. This year I just stained the top piece of the rail and all the flooring. This deck was still drying when I had to leave, but you get the idea. I really think Ipe’ is a super wood to be used for outdoor decking, and highly recommend it. Ipe’ deck project in Corralitos, California.
This deck is just eight months old. It was built in November 2007. In a decks life, it’s as good as new. To ensure this deck remained better than new,(that’s right..I said better than new) I insisted this guy wait (a full winter and half a summer) for the wood to open up a bit before staining in early August 2008. Every newly constructed deck will present a little different situation with possibly a different maintenance approach, but this is good stuff right here amigo!
East Side Santa Cruz
These stained boards up against the house are dry. As always, Biowash Natural Deck Oil. The color is a private blend of X % Redwood, Y % Natural, Z % Cedar.
These boards were stained the day prior to this picture. This particular back deck is about six years old and is located in Aptos California off Clubhouse Dr. I think it’s about 10am with flat light. Gorgeous right??
This was a gutter AND a deck project in the Seascape area of Santa Cruz. These are before and after the cleaning only. I like these pictures because they showcase a situation that I see quite frequently which is damage that occurs to wood boards when pots or wood piles or small trees, or the like are left directly on the deck over time. It turns into sow bug and termite central. Not good!
The moral to the story is to keep things UP off the deck, AND also move things around from time to time…especially big potted plants that get watered often. As you can see from the square marks on each side of the foot of this bench, this was a potential disaster waiting to happen to this beautiful deck. Luckily it was caught in time. I suggested putting their boxed lemon trees on sturdy rollers, and for a year or so..moving them to a different place on the deck.
some are big some are little
some form on the end some form in the middle
As it stands now, I have stained this deck just 2x, the first time being April 2007. I believe the deck was built in the fall of 2006. I advised the client to wait until spring to wash and stain for the first time. I don’t have pictures from that day, but here is how it looks in April 2008 after a quick stain job. My next bit of advice for this sweet lady in Aptos was to call me again in October and I will throw another coat of Biowash Natural Oil on it for $50. The key to brand new decks is to let them age a bit before showering them with love. It’s all about the love!!
This is a front porch in Capitola off 41st Ave. Evening sun only. This deck obviously had a planter of some sort on it for many, many years. Before having me out,(as you can see) they had this area reinforced. No wood needed to be replaced.
By 2010, providing the homeowner keeps this area free n’ clear AND has it professionally maintained, you won’t even see the planter mark. True Stories…
This old deck which is located way up in Nisene Marks somewhere needed a real expert. This deck is in upwards of 25 years old with minimal sun exposure. These three pictures comprise the wash cycle only. The last picture is merely a clean, wet deck. The final step was of course to cover the deck flooring with Biowash Natural Deck Oil and for the rails we decided on a Semi-Solid stain by Cabot. It turned out just beautiful!! If I only could have convinced the client to give her entire house a bath as well. 🙂
Water will bead on newly stained wood boards. This phoenomenon will not last forever on a very exposed deck. By exposed I am referring to decks that get a real good amount of hot sun on a daily basis, AND/OR decks that are susceptible to lots of rain with perhaps limited or no drying times in between. The water beading in these pics are from a transparent stain job four years ago. This happens to be a covered porch area, protected from sun and rain!!
I liked how these shots turned out. The sun was directly behind me @ around 4pm. If you have a recently built deck(within 5 years or so…) that has NEVER EVER been stained or sealed since being first built, the first picture you see will give you a real close idea as to what the rails will look like after being stained with Biowash Natural Deck Oil(Redwood Tone)
The closeup shot shows big fresh beads of water on this newly renovated decking rail in Aptos, Ca. It’s a beautiful, beautiful thing!! You should try it!!