Refinishing Your Deck in the Spring

    The time of year is coming for fires, barbeques, and late nights outdoors with your friends, but you've noticed that your deck isn't looking as vibrant as you remember. You know that it is time to finally refinish your deck and we have just the tools you need at Jones Rental to get the job done. 

    If you are not quite sure if your deck really needs refinished there are a few steps that you can take to make sure:

    

• If you notice that your deck looks uneven, patchy, worn thin or flaky, it is time to treat the wood.
• If you pour water on your deck and it is no longer repelling it, then you need to refinish your wood. 
• Lastly, if the deck is showing signs of deterioration, you will need to take care of whatever issues it is having, whether that be a loose board, or even a rotting board. After these issues are taken care of, you will then be able to paint and stain your deck. 

    After you have decided that you are going to redo your deck there are a few tools you will need to get the process going, like a sander, a pressure washer, and even the deck stains and cleaners themselves. Luckily we have all of these tools and products in stock for your deck project. If you are in need of any of these products click the links above to look through our inventory. 

    Now that you have your tools ready it is time to actually refinish your deck. Here are the steps to get the best result from your DIY project:

• Inspecting your deck surface: The first thing you want to do is lightly clean off your deck so that you can take a good look at it. Make sure that there are no loose or rotting boards, or that no boards have split. If you do see these issues, make sure you get them fixed before refinishing your deck so that you can be sure your deck will last as long as possible.
• Light Cleaning your deck: If your deck isn't painted and all there is on it is a clear finish, or semi-transparent wood stain, then you will need to use a wood deck cleaner to to remove any mildew stains, or UV caused bleaching of the wood. 
• Deep cleaning your deck: If your deck needs a little more TLC than just a light cleaning, then what you will want to do is use a pressure washer. This tool will help you remove any loose paint but you want to be very careful. Usually when power washing wood you will want the water pressure to be just high enough to be effective but no more than that so you don't damage your deck.
• Sanding the deck: After you have washed your deck you will want to sand your deck down a bit to remove any chances of splinters happening when you are restaining the wood. Often times when you wash your deck the wood will expand and raise and may stay this way, and this is what causes splintering. 
• Selecting the stain and deck finish: We are now at the point where we can pick out the type of stain and finish we want to use on our deck. At Jones Rental we offer a variety of stains to fit any color you may want. Make sure that the color you apply will go with your wood species as the actual color can stain differently if you have colored wood. Leaving you with a job you may not care for.
• Deck Stain Application: This is where the satisfying part comes in. The actual staining of your deck. Some things to keep in mind are to make sure that the stain or sealer is water repellant so that your wood is not damaged and you want to make sure you DO NOT use a clear finish such as polyurethane or varnish, as it will degrade under the sun's UV rays. 

    We hope that these tips help you in completing your next deck job. If you need anything for the project feel free to get ahold of us by calling (419)-207-8800, or by stopping in and saying hello. We are located at 1627 Cleveland Avenue, Ashland Ohio, 44805. We hope to see you soon!