This is still enough pressure to do damage to soft wood and enough pressure to leave lap marks on most composite decking.
Tips pressure washing wood deck.
A good deck cleaner can remove the gray fibers dirt mold mildew and other impurities deep in the wood.
For this reason you should plan on sanding your wood deck after power washing and before staining and sealing.
Allow to dry for 24 hours then sand the surface with between a 60 to 150 grit sandpaper or sanding disk.
Rinse the deck with a pressure washer once you ve scrubbed the wood planks with deck cleaner and made sure that they re clean rinse all traces of soap from the entire deck before you can start staining.
Too much force can destroy your wood so do not use a high powered nozzle.
Sanding a wood deck after a deep power washing the wood fibers of the various components of the deck often raise as they expand with water.
However a pressure washer can ruin your deck if it s not used properly.
Often a pressure washer can effectively clean a deck with just plain water.
Switch to the widest spray nozzle not counting the one you just used for the soap.
Once dry these wood fibers can often remain raised and may cause splinters.
Begin pressure washing the deck moving with the grain of the wood in wide sweeping motions.
As mentioned in previous articles the pressure you need to wash your deck surface is rarely more than 1 500 pounds per square inch psi.
It s a great weekend project that will cost the average home owner between 200 300 dollars if you re buying the pressure washer for the first time.
11 common deck staining questions.
Pressure washing your deck when pressure washing a deck it is absolutely critical that you not use too powerful a spray.
You can use commercial deck cleaning soap or you can make homemade deck wash.
Use this technique for cleaning wooden outdoor furniture as well.
To make this teak deck cleaner or for another type of wood fill a bucket with water and add the deck cleaning solution.
Then wash the deck using a power washer to scrub the surface clean.
Dip a long handled brush in the water and scrub the wood or composite.
Pressure washing can help but if you want your stain to last using a good deck cleaner and brightener on the deck prior to pressure washing will provide you the best result.
How much does it cost to pressure wash a deck.
Use a powered sanding.
You can use a garden hose with a pressure nozzle attached but we recommend pressure washing with a power washer.