Summer Deck Maintenance & Repair
So, you have the deck of your dreams, and summer is the best season to enjoy it. You have a great outdoor kitchen and a fire pit, surrounded by friends and family. But are you taking proper care of your outdoor haven? Summer weather is great for enjoying your deck. But summer is also a season where your deck can endure a lot of damage, and you might be too busy taking advantage of your deck to bother with maintaining it. However, with this simple guide, you can quickly assess your deck, know the repairs that may need to be made, and get back to appreciating your deck.
Debris
Regardless of whether you have wood, low-quality composites, or low maintenance, high resistance capped composite material, your deck is going to accumulate debris. Debris can range from aesthetically offensive to abrasive to allergy symptom inducing. No matter where you live, your deck will accumulate either dirt, leaves, dust, or sand. Being aware of how to handle, and properly carry out deck maintenance is an important aspect of keeping your deck for years to come. Not only does a messy deck look bad, but if left unchecked, the debris can slowly wear down the exterior of your deck’s materials.
Deck damage isn’t the only debris related problem deck owners must worry about, as pollen can land on your deck, flare up the allergies of you and your visitors, and make your deck the last place anyone wants to be. To combat debris of any type, you should regularly sweep your deck, lather it with soap or deck cleaner, and rinse the soap or deck cleaner away with a garden hose. Also, if you did not apply sealers or toners in Spring, apply them now.
Pests
One of the not-so-great features of summer is the emergence of insects and other potentially harmful creatures. Throughout the summer, you should keep a watchful eye out for wasp, hornet, or bee nests attached to the top, sides, and bottom of your deck or under deck. No one wants to be relaxing in a hot tub and fall under the siege of a swarm of painful stingers.
In addition to pain inducing nuisances, you should also defend against ants. Ants may converge on your deck to eat your freshly grilled steaks, to find an entrance to your house, or can be a sign of a greater issue: termites. If you have a wooden deck, and not a composite, your biggest fear is likely falling victim to a termite or carpenter ant infestation. Signs of termites include: long strips carved out of your deck and what looks like sawdust, but is actually termite droppings. Actual sawdust is a sign of carpenter ants. Termites and carpenter ants should be combatted by a professional pest management technician, as they can do real, long-term damage to your deck.
Inspection & Repairs
Checking for deck damage is an exercise deck owners are capable of, whereas many repairs may not be. Some types of wear and tear are easy to spot, such as nails that have loosened from their board, boards that have split, loose rails or posts, and stain or seal that has degraded over time. Other problems, like rot, are harder to inspect and require a little more work to sniff them out.
While exterior problems can be discovered by observation or the slight shake of a rail or post, rot demands a more hands-on approach. Luckily, all you need to check for rot is a flat-head screwdriver and a few spare minutes. Wielding the screwdriver, probe boards, posts, and any other deck material that appears suspect, and if the screwdriver goes a quarter-inch or more into the material, your deck likely has rot. If you find any damage to your deck, the qualified professionals at American Deck & Sunroom are eager to help return your deck to its previous luster.
What We Do
At American Deck & Sunroom, we don’t build houses. We don’t just landscape. What we do is design and build beautiful outdoor spaces…extensions of your home that flow with your existing property and architecture. And because we specialize, we go beyond the, “If you can dream it, we can build it,” catchphrase often quoted. After nearly 20 years in business and nearly 13,000 designs and counting, we have the experience to design outdoor spaces you’ve never even dreamed possible.
American Deck & Sunroom effortlessly creates and constructs first-class custom decks, complex and beautiful paver patios, and decks for both above and in ground pools that will absolutely enhance your home. With proper maintenance, your custom architectural solutions will last a lifetime. Interested in learning more? Visit our services page for an extended list of what we offer, or check out examples of our work by clicking here.
Remember…
After nearly 20 years of experience and almost 13,000 drawings later, our best credentials remain our list of satisfied customers. Though our projects are concentrated in Lexington & Louisville Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, we have projects completed from Arkansas to Rhode Island and from Dallas to Green Bay. Our custom decks, designs, and our commitment to excellence are second to none.
We only have two rules: our designs will look like they belong with the architecture of the house, and we build anything but square decks. Our goal is to go beyond what you’ve dreamed to create a unique space unlike any other. What are you waiting for? Give us a call today!
