Yummy
Blog
-
Beagle Tone
Custom backyard deck washing and staining. West side Santa Cruz near UC. South facing multi-level deck that receives loads of direct sunshine. Built in 2010 and without prior history of deck maintenance, it cleaned quite well and naturally took on an abundance of material. This is a combination of artistic tones tucked within a pretty dark base. A darker base of sorts seems to work best when redwood boards clean to an oxidized golden(ish) camel color when dry. As for this deck, there will definitely be times of the day where the boards appear deep and defined yet other times when the appearance is light and fluffy.
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY DECK CLEANING & STAINING
-
Los Barrancos de Aptos
The beauty within the confines of Los Barrancos never ceases to amaze. Here is another one of those well maintained Ipe hard wood decks. The deck photos represent different times of the day and different stages in the staining process. Every couple years or so keeps it feeling and looking this beautiful.
DECK MAINTENANCE, STAINING & SEALING
APTOS, CORRALITOS, SANTA CRUZ, FELTON
-
A bit on peeling..
Peeling is normally something that happens with paint, solid stains, lacquer varnishes, those kinds of materials. Layers of these kinds of protecting materials will peel forever and ever if the wood they are protecting gets any kind of direct sun. Paint peeling happens all the time and all over the place. I’m no painter, but if not enough prep goes into the existing paint, and then another coat or two of new paint is added, throw in a year or two’s worth of sun and rain, and that paint will surely peel.
Lacquer finishes on doors are another example of materials that will peel with exposure to the elements, mainly sun. If your gorgeous front door has been beautifully lacquered with several coats, trust me, that lacquer will peel for days at the bottom of the door where it receives the most weather. Even solid stains when applied too generously will peel in places after the initial stain.
It’s very difficult and very possible all in the same breath to have a build up of transparent stain that would get to a point where it began to peel in places. I of course have seen it a hundred and one times, and it’s not a pretty look. It usually involves a sheen, and it usually is very red or orange. It’s an awful combo!! An outdoor wood deck that is properly maintained with a water based transparent stain will never peel.
Here’s but a goofy but meaningful example of transparent stain peeling right off a five gallon bucket. Mind you, that’s likely 20-30 ‘water-based’ coats that have built up on a plastic bucket. Like oil and vinegar.
Santa Cruz Wood Deck Maintenance
Stain * Protect * Beautify
-
modern family
This seems to be the most common style fence these days. So many pros, so few cons. One of the pros is that it’s relatively maintenance free. This was built new in 2019. I washed and stained it first in spring 2022. We did the maintenance again around Thanksgiving 2025. Maintenance the second go around consisted of washing and staining the top board and doing the same with the bottom configuration of wood boards. That’s it. The posts are pressure treated as are the support joists.
-
Devil’s in the Details
The client did the taping, haha. I wasn’t going to use it. In all fairness to the client, it is a brand new gucci custom door, and behind the florescent tape is actually beautiful stained glass. Anyway, after the shingles had been restored, the client kindly asked if I would be interested in doing the door. A door that wasn’t set to arrive for another few weeks. Meanwhile, I was just a day or so from moving off her deck project and onto the next.
I asked if the door was expensive and she wanted to know what constituted expensive. I said $2500. She said it was expensive.
I do one front door every five years. When that one door is presented to me and I know darned well that I should be the guy that does it, it only takes seconds to begin remembering what it really takes to professionally stain a door like this one and why it is that I only do one “expensive enough” front door every five years or so.
Let’s take a front entrance door like this one. Typically, it’s finished off and protected with some form of lacquering. Am I wrong about that because maybe I am. Or perhaps it’s stained and then lacquered. The methodology suggests to protect the front door as if it were an indoor kitchen cabinet. That said, the misunderstood protocol is finishing this door off with some form of lacquer based material. Likely best if sprayed. One of two or three coats, I actually have very little clue, it’s not my area of expertise.
If the door gets any sun (and I mean any) OR gets wet when it rains, OR it gets both, that beautiful door won’t look so bossanova after some time. If the door is set back enough into a deep enough entranceway, that’s one thing. If however it is exposed to even the most minimum set of elemental circumstances, the only smart way to play this one out for the best short and long-term results, is to use a water based material and maintain accordingly.
This sharp client saw the light for sure. She also knew that a high glossy sheen lacquer door up against her matte finished shingles would look out of place. I accepted the job. I charged a premium. Chocolate Cream Country Beach Barn.
Santa Cruz Aptos Capitola Shingles Decks
-
Bobby Jones was here
It’s always a pleasure to be working near the Pasatiempo Golf Course. I’m out here at least once per year. Two of my clients in Pasatiempo have partial shingle homes that are in need of semi-regular maintenance. I’ve washed and stained a few dozen wood(and plastic) decks out there over the years too. Modern Day Paradise.
-
Troubled
Doesn’t get sun in the winter months. Portions of the deck are very close in proximity to the earth’s surface. The bottoms of the many boards may actually be touching ground. The “ends” of many boards are butted up to, and in some cases completely buried underground. Over the years the deck has had many boards installed where the hot tub used to be, and many that were replaced that were rotted out. And lastly, this old deck off Larkin Valley in Santa Cruz CA is pretty shrouded in mature oak trees which are notorious mess-makers.
I pulled away some hillside that was crashing the party. I cleared all debris between every single board. An extra thorough professional wash followed up with the finest, highest quality, water based material on the market. Here are different looks during different stages of the process during different times of the day. Delicious as Always!
Santa Cruz Exterior Wood Deck Maintenance
-
Multi Tasking
The funky build-up of moss will typically feast on the North and West facing portions of any style/shape of roof. I almost feel as though I see it everywhere I go. Some is worse than others, that sort of thing. This is a property off Clubhouse in Aptos. It definitely gets sun, but only in the summer, and of course only when it’s sunny. This particular roof was very walkable, it was one story, AND I was already doing their decks. I felt compelled to make them an offer they couldn’t refuse.
The deck(s) I have been maintaining for almost 20 years. The first half dozen years I probably washed and stained this deck about three times. Now that it’s under the maintenance spell, every three or so years is just fine. The deck gets medium daily sun and fairly light foot traffic. It is completely surrounded by all different types of tall trees that make a pretty good mess. I think they have landscapers that quickly give it a blow once a week and that likely helps the cause.
As you can see, even the boards that aren’t yet stained are still holding plenty of stain from the application three years prior. Love how nicely spaced these boards are too!
Cleaning Santa Cruz since 2001
Decks, Roofs, Houses, Fences, Bricks, Concrete, Shingle Homes
Wood Staining Professionals
Santa Cruz California
-
Breath of Fresh Air
Evidence that this deck was jam packed with filthy grime. This was in May and the debris was still stinky wet in nature. Never a good thing! This lack of maintenance does real damage to the boards over time due to the deck’s inability to naturally drain. In doing so, it also strips all the overall beauty from its appearance. You would be very surprised how much more refreshing the deck becomes when you can see and feel the preferred gap between the boards. .
It’s also a deck that had a giant wood storage box on it that had seen wayyy better days. You can see the mark that was left. I convinced the homeowner to not only remove the thing off the deck but to keep it off as well. It certainly wasn’t doing the deck any favors, in fact it was eating away at the deck in places where it likely stayed wet for months at a time. Yep, perfect conditions for sow bugs, termites, those sorts of critters.
Deck Washing and Staining
San Lorenzo Valley
-
Jewel Box Charmer
We last washed and stained this deck in 2015. Doesn’t battle too much ‘wear and tear’. Doesn’t receive a ton of sun either.
Deck Staining & Maintenance
**Shingle Restoration**
Capitola–Santa Cruz–Aptos–Los Gatos
-
Reflective Theory
before 
after Admittedly, we clean our share of solar panels these days, though it’s not an advertised service. In most cases the homeowner can pull off this basic stunt providing it doesn’t take a stuntman or woman. I usually get involved when it makes sense and cents to have me clean them. We still do quite a bit of gutter and downspout clearing in the winter time. And it seems like I am still pressure cleaning at least a half dozen roofs off each and every season. That is typically when the solar panel subject gets broached.
Anyway, I have my methods of properly getting them pretty perfect. If you want to know those methods, google has unlimited suggestions. There will surely be those common sense suggestions that resonate best with you. One thing is for sure, it’s worth keeping them clean. Some panels need more cleaning than others. The one thing they have going for them is that for the great most part they aren’t directly under trees and the like. So they aren’t getting littered with debris etc. Bird droppings are a different story…
-
It pays to Ipe’
Ipe in all its glory. The four or so boards on the bottom are washed but not yet stained. The rest of the boards are stained with Defy for Hardwoods. We used a mix of Butternut, Cedar, and a sprinkle of Redwood Tone. Interesting to see how each board is totally unique in color and grain. It had been four years since I last washed and stained this 15 year old deck off San Andreas Road in South County Santa Cruz. It obviously cleaned up nicely and the final look is better than new. Am I right or what?
-
C’mon People
More than I can ever remember, I am seeing so many shingled and wood sided homes in Santa Cruz County that are in desperate need of basic maintenance. I’m not sure what homeowners are thinking as they let the asset go. Like I remember not very long ago that most of the shingled or partially shingled homes all along Opal Cliffs looked pretty darned good. Not anymore they don’t. I recently gave a deck bid in the Jewel Box and I was blown away by how poorly these homes look now. Monster cliffside homes that have shingles that are black and curling OR areas of wood siding that “de-modernize” your empty desire to keep a modern style home. The same can be said about the abundance of shingled homes in the greater Santa Cruz Harbor area, especially on the west side of the harbor near Aldos Bakery. It’s too bad because with a some professional TLC, restoration is totally possible. Santa Cruz, Aptos, Saratoga, San Lorenzo Valley, Los Gatos, Scotts Valley, Truckee.
-
Deck Stain Santa Cruz County
Deck Maintenance, Staining & Sealing, Shingle Restoration, Arbors, Fences, Privacy Walls
Santa Cruz, Aptos, San Lorenzo Valley, Scotts Valley, Capitola, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Freedom, Truckee, Lake Tahoe
Emails only please: cleaningsantacruz at gmail dot com
-
Mountain Magic
This client got a brand new door and he wanted me to stain it. The old wood siding was stained a few years back after being neglected for who knows how long. We all found it to be a perfectly imperfect looking contrast. Happy New Year, 1/5/24, Boulder Creek, CA
Decks Siding Shingles Arbors Fences
Custom Wood Staining & Maintenance
Decks Siding Shingles Arbors F
-
ABC, Always Better Clean
Here’s a property that we maintain every couple years. This is a one story home in Aptos near the golf course. They have 900 s/f of redwood boards in back with a pretty extensive wood arbor above the hot tub. The deck gets a lot of sun in the summer(when it’s sunny in Aptos) and not so much sun in the winter. The lower portion can get slick as snot, especially after months of wet leaf and debris sitting there taking hold. Lots of big trees dropping big wet leaves all over. Some photos of things that get cleaned along the way sometimes .
Shingle Restoration Santa Cruz
Deck Staining & Maintenance
San Lorenzo Valley, Santa Cruz, Aptos, Scotts Valley
-
Tread Lightly
Metal roofs should be washed every year. The dirty film you can see from the picture is what makes this roof almost too slippery to walk on when wet. After that slippery film is removed, albeit still potentially treacherous for the amateur roof walker, it is considerably safer.
Los Gatos Saratoga Aptos Soquel Santa Cruz Truckee
