There were several factors that lead to me agreeing to perform this solid color makeover.  It was a full wash, and a partial stain.  We stained all the flooring, the top piece of the rail, and too many accents boards to name.  I ensured the client that I would tie everything together symmetrically.  The goal was to find that balance between investing the right amount into this 30 year old deck.  We used a Flood Product that we purchased from King’s Paint & Paper.  I forget the exact color.  It was my only time working with a solid decking stain this particular deck maintenance season, and by the end of the job, I was reminded 1000x why.  To me it felt like I was applying chocolate fudge everywhere.  In the end however, and yes it took an additional ten hours of honest labor for me to get to that particular end, the results were quite nice.  Most importantly, the client loved it.  As always, I was the harsher critic.. 

More Ipe’.  This is a beautiful deck.  It’s at least eight years old.  The deck is likely 10-12 years old.  It gets filtered sun throughout most the day.  It sits beneath two pretty good sized Oak Trees.  A really nice design with every board having to be cut 2x.  Upper Prospect Heights Santa Cruz California.  The pictures tell most the story. 

The clients had been living here for eight years.  They hadn’t done anything to the deck since moving in other than regularly blow off the abundance of leaves and debris, and a couple times per year the homeowner would bust out his Target Pressure Washer and give it what he probably referred to as a deeper cleaning.  Outside of that, the Ipe’ just sat there and endured summer after summer, winter after winter.

Obviously from the pictures, it was pretty filthy.  Thankfully, it cleaned up real nice.  I’d like to point out picture #3.  You can see the reflection in the standing water.  That means only one thing.  The spaces between the boards are crammed with debris.  Water proves to just as much damage to wood boards as does sun.  And slippery when wet!  Picture #4 is a dry look of the staining process.  We used Extreme by Defy, a blended tone.

Santa Cruz Deck Maintenance

Photos like this never get old.

It’s a constant reminder

of what lies below the silvery-grey.

This is 25 year old redwood

after a cold water pressure wash,

and a little time to dry.

Six y/o rails on this deck in Scotts Valley, CA. 

We applied Extreme by Defy, Redwood tone.

Santa Cruz Deck Maintenance summer 2017

Say that 5x fast..

This beautiful, 3yr old Ipe’ deck is nestled in the hills of Santa Cruz County off Hwy 17.  This photo was shot just after the deck was cleaned.  It had been previously stained when the deck was built.  Typically when a new deck is stained immediately after it has been built, the lasting factor stands to be pretty short.  That means the wood boards needs a little time to “open up” before being stained.  Especially on a hard wood deck like Ipe’.  After this particulardeck was washed, it virtually had no stain remaining on it from the previous application.

Way more times than not, the deck boards that I(we) monkey around on, and have been monkey(ing) around on every single year for the past 17 years, have all been built too close to one another. 

I don’t claim to know too much about building decks, but I do know a thing or three about how the deck boards should be spaced for optimal maintenance.  I’m going to leave it at that for now…

We see this a bunch.  A very functional deck that has been cared for in the past with a solid or a semi solid stain.  I forget this exact story, but from what I remember, this RED job was done 8-10 years ago.  Capitola, New Brighton Beach area deck.  Gets tons of sun.  That being said, I knew that just by washing the deck, an additional 85% of red would wash away, and it did.  In addition to that, all the bare wood you see in the pictures would become very clean and ready to go the transparent route.

Had we tried to convert this deck five years go, there may have been too much existing stain.  This company does NOT sand, stain, strip, and/or the like.  If a mistake was made in the past with a stain that was TOO dark or TOO solid, or TOO dark AND solid, the silver lining is that the wood is probably being very well protected.

Unfortunately I do not have any additional shots of this particular project.  It was all washed, and just the floor and top piece of rail were stained with a redwood tone transparent stain.  Water based of course.  The white pickets were also washed, and to save a $$$, the client decided to stain them herself.