Cleaning a wood deck

Anyone have experience cleaning a wood, pressure treated deck?

If so, what product did you use to clean the deck. I'm hoping I can find one that does not take a lot of manual effort.

Thanks, Bob

I think I've just used Olympic Deck Cleaner in the past. Spray it on, wait, wash it off. Most of them are just bleach based with some soap. Seemed to work well but can be hard on any plants in the area of the deck.

Hope this helps.

I always wet it down good. Put on some deck cleaner. Can't specify a special brand or anything as I have used different ones and have been happy. Spray on the deck cleaner and use a good stiff brush to brush it in. Let it soak for about ten minutes then take a good pressure washer to it. You may have to repeat in areas.

I just use a pressure washer. Tedious but effective.

I'm with Pixie. I've used the commercial deck cleaners and they seem to help a "little" bit but most of the time I just fire up the pressure washer and have at it. Either way, it takes a while.

Go with the pressure washer that has 3500 PSI or more . Use a flat spray tip . Try it before you waste your money buying cleaners . I think you may be surprized at the excellent results

This is why I used composite deck boards when I built my new ones. Now I only have to stain the posts and underneath. I have used a bleach solution and then pressure washed in the past and it worked pretty well.

I tried OxyClean yesterday and it did no good at all.

Then I tried X 14 on a small place. It did not do very well. I thought for sure the X 14 would take care of it as it has a lot of bleach plus a mildew/mold killer. I have used X 14 in the past on siding that has mold/mildew and it did an outstanding job.

Then I tried pressure washing with a 1200 PSI washer. Apparently that washer is not powerful enough to remove the mold/mildew/grime. I have always heard to be careful when pressure washing wood because you can raise the grain too much.

I'm thinking about renting a commercial buffer that has either a stiff bristle brush or a steel wool pad. I would run the buffer dry, or with the floor just damp.

If that does not work, then I don't have much choice but to try a more powerful pressure washer.

Thanks for the suggestions. Bob

1200PSI is too light .

I been using straight water and a 4000 PSI presurre washer for 20 years on my cedar home with no problems . Make sure you use a 30 degree fan tip and blast at a angle to reduce raising the grain of the wood . Hers a pic last time I did it . This house is 20 years old in this picture .

I wash about a dozen decks for customers each year, and just use my 2,600 psi pressure washer with the 25 degree tip, and stay about 6-10" away from the wood. Chemical deck washes do nothing but bleach the wood as has been said before here, and they really don't do a good job of that. What you are seeing is your efforts of scrubbing with a stiff brush to remove the dirt in and on the wood itself. When the dirt is gone it looks purdy again.

If you are able to rent a power washer, get nothing less than 2400 psi for this type of work, and move the wand at a speed that shows progress, but is not too slow. It's surprisingly easy to start removing wood with these machines, then you'll be sanding those spots which is just more work. The power washer will also clean out airborn debris that gets stuck between the deck boards and holds moisture. It's easier than a brush & screwdriver that I have seen people using,

Finally, get a good UV blocking sealer on the wood after it has dried. this will fill the cracks as well, making it easier to clean the deck next year. Good luck.

Simply put there is nothing better than CPR with a power washer!

Check out my Dirty, clean and now the stain thread!

folks around here like using a hot water pressure washer before painting the hot water seems to kill mold and mildue letting the paint stick better havn't done muy house yet but the time is comming.

dds said:

folks around here like using a hot water pressure washer before painting the hot water seems to kill mold and mildue letting the paint stick better havn't done muy house yet but the time is comming.

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Mold & algae growth on the wood is another issue. Around here we use a 50/50 mix of household bleach and water, and spray it on the cleaned wood to kill the mold. I leave it on for a couple of hours, then do a cold water rinse to dilute the bleach. Algae will sometimes die off with this solution, and other times needs a systemic chemical to resolve it.