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1.      House Washing

Green around your house is beautiful! Green on your house is pretty ugly (yet easily removed). Unless, of course, you like green and it happens to be the color of your house. Remove the green algae with house washing Delmarva! Algae, mildew, pollen, construction dirt, insects like spiders and mud daubers all love to mar the outside of your beautiful home. We at DeckResurrect™ can safely pressure wash or soft-wash your home. SEE our examples on our House Washing page.

2.      Paint Prep

Most homes have some exterior wooden components such as columns, fascia and molding on them that are typically primed and painted. After a few years the low-grade construction paint flakes and needs to be cleaned off. Power washing helps painters in paint-prep by removing loose paint and prepping it to be re-primed and have new high-quality exterior paint applied. Not all painters own the equipment to do the cleaning portion of the previously painted surface. Once again, call us and we can assist the owner or painter in paint-prep. SEE the Paint Prep page on our website along with photos.

The sun’s UV rays can and will destroy your deck if your stain lacks great UV protection

3.      Deck Cleaning

“Our deck doesn’t need cleaning, we have composite … plus, its maintenance free.” Yeah ok, look a little closer. Even composite decking gets dirty. The newer composite decking boards like PVC, Azek and vinyl decking can clean with very mild detergents and a light wash. If you have railing made of these advanced materials it will always look great, but it will still get green algae or moss on its north side in this damp low to sea level environment. However, it goes without saying, the older composite decking requires more work to get clean. The real old stuff like the original Trex will not deep clean effectively at all, for which there has been a past class-action lawsuit. Nevertheless, the industry has come to assist older composite decking customers. Many newer latex stains will also stain older composite decks. However, this removes the main reason why you went with composite decking in the first place. But at aleast the new stains give new life to the otherwise ugly, first generation composite decking. If you decide, Delmarva residents, to save the old composite and stain it, or a wooden deck, then see the next category below.  If you have a wooden deck, then it goes without saying you need periodic deck cleaning. If it has solid latex stain on it now just have it cleaned, but reapply more latex solid stain as latex bonds well with additional latex. If it’s a hybrid alkyd/acrylic (oil/latex) mix or all oil, then it must be stripped professionally as new oil or hybrid stain likes to adhere to bare wood not a previous stain. At DeckResurrect, cleaning and staining decks is what we do, and it is our specialty. You can learn much more on our Deck Restoration page.

4.      Deck Staining

Deck staining is not rocket science, but there are a number of very important considerations before you pick a stain whether your are staining pressure treated wood, cedar, redwood, hardwoods like Ipe or older composite.

  • Which direction does your deck face? Is it in the full southern sun or does it face north and barely gets sunlight since you live on a wooded lot? There is a big difference how your deck reacts to its orientation to the sun and therefore dictates what kind of stain you should use. The sun’s UV rays can and will destroy your deck if your stain lacks great UV protection.
  • Is your deck nailed or screwed? This is not a stain question but very important. If your deck is nailed — which is most common but the least efficient for decks in Delmarva — then your deck, if facing full southern sun, will gradually come apart. Once again, nails for decks in a shaded lot is ok but not in full sun. If you face south or your deck is in strong sunlight, use deck screws and solid stain. Your deck will last considerably longer.
  • Preparation is also key. Read the manufacturer’s stain application requirements. This is a time when you can’t always rely on UYT advice (University of YouTube, for which I am an alumnus), as some homeowners and contractors are not going about this correctly.

This is our 27th year of cleaning decks! See our website for further education on deck stain.

5.      Deck Repair & Inspection

I was a former home inspector before the 2008 mortgage meltdown, and inspector of commercial buildings between DE, MD and VA. I am also educated with 4 years of design drafting in vocational school. With that being said, some decks scare me sleepless. In fact, I became a home inspector after all the decks I cleaned, and I saw how poorly constructed many were built. They were accidents/lawsuits waiting to happen. Before you invite folks/family to have a graduation or holiday party at your home or vacation home, check the construction of your deck! Remember, if they pose for photos in a certain area of a deck, your deck –if poorly built — could collapse under the concentrated weight in that area (if it’s properly conscientiously constructed, no problem). You should not hesitate to beef-up your deck to have it better supported if need be. If you are at the beach you should use stainless steel components because the salt air and water can corrode zinc or galvanize brackets and screws. Lumber spans, joists span from each other, and distance of columns supporting girders are all things that need investigation. Does your deck bounce if you walk or jump in the middle of it? This is not good! It means your deck is under-built. Are your railing and balusters loose? Strongly consider making it stronger before family and friends come on the deck. Cap-rails are the first thing to go on a wooden deck in full sun (especially if nailed) and have poor UV protection. They should be replaced with new wooden components that are screwed, and in some cases the ends should be routered. Routering the ends helps prevents twisting in the sun for cap-rails.

6.      Concrete, Sidewalk, Pool Area & Driveway Cleaning

Surface cleaning of concrete, steps, sidewalks and driveways is commonly needed as concrete can get disgustingly dirty. We don’t expect customers to have surface cleaners, so call us Delmarva residents, and we will power wash your concrete surfaces.

7.      Roof Cleaning

Roof cleaning has become a genuine necessity on the Eastern Shore of Delmarva as less roofing material is made from asphalt or is petroleum-based as it was in the past.  Now, or for some time, it has limestone in it. Algae, lichen and moss feed off of organic limestone on roofs causing black streaks on roofs (just like decks). Again, orientation to the north typically is where it grows, but some roofs are so dirty they need cleaning everywhere.

In conclusion, this is not an exhaustive list of things to clean on the exterior of your home. But for many us it should be on the top of our ‘honey-do-list’ if we want to keep our mates happy and enjoy our beautiful home. Give us a call Delmarva, Kent Island and Annapolis or fill out our contact info on the upper right and we here at DeckResurrect look forward to being of service to you in: House Washing, Paint Prep, Deck Cleaning and Staining, Deck Repair and Inspection, Concrete and Roof Cleaning.

 

Home Inspection School link

Wolman Educated Contractor

 

 

 

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