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Restore Old Deck - how

Leo Voisine

Leo Voisine

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Location
East Freeetown, Massachusetts
So, I am siding my house. BUT - that is only the siding. I am really restoring the exterior of my house.

Part of that means the decks. My first deck was built in 1989 out of pressure treated lumber. I never put anything on it. It has been maintenance free since I built it. Believe it or not, it is still sound and strong. BUT, the grand kids get splinters.

Soooo - I now want to fix that issue.

I am NOT going to replace the deck boards, that is NOT an option.

I don't want to sand it because that will remove the galvanizing from the nails, which are in great condition.

I am thinking of a thick coating. There are coatings out there to do what I want.

I DO get snow and ice. Decks get hot in the sun.

I have 4 decks
16x26 - oldest one 1989
10x12 - second oldest - 1993
8x12 - 1998
8x10 - 2006

My question is --

Does anyone have experience with this situation? Recommendations? Experiences?
 
Well Leo as a newcomer to North America and the snow as well as deck culture my only experience with a deck reminds me of the abbreviation boat stands for that being "bring another thousand".

Given we never had decks where i came from, I just had to have a cedar deck when we arrived here.

well keeping it looking good was like owning a boat. :)

i recall the pretty and well informed contractor type lady in the paint dept at home depot saying to me "you realize it will never look the same again, that was when i was buying some protective coating to enhance and protect it and "keep it looking like new" Yeah right.

my view is gentle sanding and leave alone.

the coating i put in ended up taking a beating from the sun and snow and then had to be sanded off.That led to replacement of the deck screws.

No more decks for me or next time they straight pressure treated and stay that way until they rot and need replacing. Grandkids if they ever arrive will have to tough it out. lol Good luck.
 
Leo, My neighbor used one of the two major players in thick coatings a couple years back. He and his missus spent a couple of days on their hands and knees prepping the old deck (about 12' x 18') according to instructions and after they applied the finish it looked beautiful. The next year I thought about doing mine and asked him how well they liked their deck. Turns out over the winter the whole thing bubbled and peeled off in big strips. His deck is close to the ground, so we thought the old deck boards just had too much moisture in them. I did get a gallon of the stuff and applied it to some of the vertical members of my old deck and the top railing. After three years the vertical members are still looking reasonably good, but the horizontal 2"x6" top rail has a lot of alligator skin and cracking in the finish due to expansion and contraction of the wood. I expect I'll have to replace it after this year and this time will skin it with Azek so I don't have to keep replacing the dang thing.
 
I hope someone has a product that does that and lasts more than a year or 2. Our daughter has tried 2 brands on here deck, the first was gone n a year. the second is still in it's first year but I expect it to be peeling shortly (it shows signs of stress already. So, I'll be watching to see if there something available.
 
Those comments are my fears.

Even marine boat deck paint is not going to stand up. I have painted MANY boat decks. Home decks get a whole lot more traffic, and generally boat decks get painted every year. It's a thought though.

I painted 2 of my decks years ago - (not the big one) - with deck paint from a reputable brand. It lasted 1-2 years, now they look like nothing was ever applied.

I am wondering about a 2 part epoxy type finish.

I have a Sherwin Williams marine 2 part epoxy coating on my shop floor. After 15 years it still looks great, NO wear through AT ALL, even in the heaviest traffic area. I even have a portion done on a step outside that still looks great. BUT - BUT - that coating on my decks would run $2000-$6000. It is extremely expensive. I budgeted that into the entire shop build budget. At the time is was $800 for my 26x26 shop floor with a 40% industrial discount. I do not have a discount or budget like that now. I would put trex before doing that. NOT gonna happen.

I am hoping to get this done inside of $500 - $750 total.
 
I don't think there is a film forming finish that can handle the expansion and contraction of normal PT wood decking caused by our weather extremes. Last time around I used Sherman Williams best quality deck stain and it looked good for two years. What works best for us turned out to be outdoor area rugs from Lowe's, Costco etc.. These come in roughly 7' x 11.5' size @ about $100 each. Three of them cover our deck, with the center one getting the most wear because it's on the major traffic pattern. We get about three years out of the center rug and then buy a new one. The old one gets cut into three lengthwise strips and makes perfect paths between garden plots. We rotate the rugs so that the new one is always under the seating/dining area. They lay flat, so no need to nail them down, and if they start to get funky a brushing with 409 followed by a power washing cleans 'em right up without damaging the deck. I'm left with about a one foot strip of decking showing and it gets so little wear that the stain lasts a long time. We can live with spending a hundred bucks every three years.
 
I used one of the heavy film coats on our decks about four years ago (whichever the highest rated by consumer reports was that home Depot sold at the time). The front deck that's covered still looks pretty good. The back deck that gets all the rain, snow, and sun started to peal about two years in. The pealing was definitely a lot worse where I hadn't done proper prep and where the wood was already cracked or there were knots, so I blame water infiltration. I've been looking at the really heavy textured stuff but haven't seen any more than a couple years old either.
 
Hmmmm. The issue isn't decks. Its splinters and grandchildren. You already have the grandchildren. Buy them shoes and ban bare feet.

Problem solved. :thumb:
 
I do a power washing to ours every year or two, brings back the new look, but does cause some grain to stand up. I've sanded down the play set we have out back to keep the kids from getting splinters, but avoided hitting the fasteners.
 
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