Absolutely. One of the most common mistakes is to apply a stain or sealer to a dirty deck surface. Even if the deck is relatively new, there are certain types of wood that require cleaning. That’s why it is very important that we perform a wood evaluation to determine if cleaning is necessary even if it’s new wood. If there’s an existing stain/sealer, this has to be completely stripped prior to re-applying a new finish. Failure to do this may cause undesired results and wood damage.