Unfortunately, pressure washers have been the cause of innocent, but serious damage to the wood on thousands of decks, by both “professionals” and the do-it-yourself person. This is caused by using too much pressure on the wood frequently at an improper angle of attack, which digs out the soft white wood between the dark wood of the tree rings.
Very few people who wash decks, understand the structure and difference between the light and dark colored wood in the tree ring pattern. But this knowledge is vital in avoiding damage to the wood. It only takes ONE wrong or accidental stroke of the pressure washer wand to cut deep irreparable grooves into the wood. This results in grooves which act as traps for water, which eventually seeps into the wood, loosening the fibers which hold the wood together. In freezing temperatures, this water expands when it freezes and pushes the wood fibers apart, forming a crack which makes the problem worse…quite rapidly.
Once this process begins, it’s impossible to reverse.
However, when we fill these cracks with our stain, the stain migrates outward from the crack into the wood, at least preserving the wood that is down inside the crack, while slowing the crack widening process. Over time, the stain, through the process of osmosis, moves deeper and deeper into the wood. Because of this process, we recommend a second application of stain in two or three years for very old dry decks and four or five years for newer decks.
This time frame depends a lot on your desires. If color is not terribly important to you, we believe our heavy application of stain preserves the interior of your wood for at least six to seven years. If color is very important to you, then you should call us when the color is less than you would like or have us set you up in our very affordable Maintenance Washing Program. Color retention is highly variable, depending on the condition of your wood, the aspect to the sun, the concentration of exhaust particles, etc.
Think carefully about the above statements and what they mean to your wood. While the surface color will gradually fade, the stain continues to move ever deeper inside your wood, thus preserving it for many many years. Re-applications will certainly enhance this process, while maintaining it’s natural beauty.