How to Care For Your Deck

Keep you deck looking new for longer! All decks experience wear and tear. To keep your deck looking great and prolong repairs, follow our deck maintenance tips below.

You will need to clean and stain your timber deck to keep it looking great.

Pot plants, trees and foliage attract moister and can rot your deck. You’ll need to regularly sweep away leaves, dirt, and any debris that build-up.

You should wash your deck with a cleanser annually. Cleansers remove stains, mould and mildew. Before cleansing, sweep your deck and remove any debris from cracks between deck boards. Be sure to follow the instructions on the bottle.

When cleaning balustrades, work from the bottom up so the cleanser doesn’t drip onto the deck boards and bleach them.

Timber gradually loses its oils and colour. To keep timber looking new, we recommend staining your deck every 6-12 months depending on the surrounding conditions. There are two types of deck stains: water or oil based. Water-based stains are easier to use and less messy. While oil-based stains are better at protecting your deck from the elements.

Splitting: Natural expansion and contraction occurs due to seasonal changes in the weather, and drying of the timber. It is common for decking to split in the months following installation.

Cupping: 140 width boards can occasionally cup, which causes a thin layer of water to sit on the deck’s surface. For your safety and others, be sure to give your deck a quick sweep before you use it.

Movement: Softwoods are especially prone to movement due to expansion and contraction the wood. This can sometimes mean the boards will warp and twist slightly, and get out of alignment. If you are particularly concerned about this, we recommend selecting composite decking, as these effects are minimized with a man-made product.

Thanks to their special blend of recycled plastic and organic fibres, composite decks require less maintenance than traditional timber decks. You don’t have to stain them and the timber is water, mould, and mite resistant. However you should still give it clean every now and then.

You can buy special cleansers formulated for cleaning composite decking. Before applying the cleanser, brush your deck with a soft bristle broom. Never use a water blaster to clean composite timber, it can permanently damage the wood.

Unlike timber, you won’t need a special cleanser to clean vinyl decking. Simply poor a mixture of mild soap and warm water onto the vinyl and then scrub with a stiff brush before hosing off – easy as!