Eco-deck makeover

Here’s a really bad idea: construct a wood deck in Seattle. Without a cover. In an area that gets mostly shade in winter. And summer.

Result? The perfect growing conditions for moss and mildew and a scummy mess for the homeowners. That would be us.

You have to forgive our ignorance. We lived for 23 years in Tucson where moss was a word as foreign to us as Urdu.

Then we moved to Idaho which boasts a true four-season climate. Winter generally brings snow, not endless deluges, barrels full of rain that sit on the deck, welcoming gelatinous goo to grow while waiting for the next storm which should, but never does, blast it away.

Seattle is neither Tucson nor north Idaho. Here decks require approximately the same amount of attention as a newborn baby (except for middle-of-the-night feedings), or they are at high risk to turn into slimy skating rinks that dry in the spring into a discolored eyesore, the spaces between boards thick with bright green moss.

That was our deck up until a week ago.

Not that we hadn’t tried. Over the six years since we moved into the house we had attempted a variety of cures from painting to staining all “guaranteed” to keep our deck looking great regardless of the unsparing rainfall.

Until I did some research after I slid into the house from the deck and practically dislocated my knee, I thought the problem was us.

Now I know the situation is simply hopeless.

If you have a deck, especially in this climate, you have to take care of it. Once a year, you can expect to put in time if you don’t want to be sued by your neighbor whom you invite for dinner on the first lovely night of spring and who, oops, slides off the porch and into the blackberry bushes which you never have time to trim.

So a few weeks ago, I headed down to EcoHaus and picked up what they told me was the best in deck maintenance materials and last weekend, me, my husband and son-in-law devoted several days to renewing the deck.

Honestly, despite the fact that we rented a sander and my husband rattled his way through six hours of removing the top couple of layers of grunge, I wasn’t expecting much. After all, we’d tried this before.

But the results of our work were amazing!

I know this sounds like a commercial, but so be it. Thanks to Biowash Stain Prep and Natural Deck Oil, for the first time since we’ve lived here, we have a deck we can be proud of.

Quick! Invite some people for dinner!

Seriously, if you’ve got a deck in need of renewing, I recommend these low VOC products. On the can it states that the deck oil “offers superior UV protection, rejuvenates wood, repels and beads water, fast re-coat time, easy water clean up.”

I can attest to all this as factual.

What I liked most about the deck oil is how easily and smoothly it went on. Much, much easier than any paint or stain as brush strokes don’t show. I bought the mid-tone (cedar) which looks dark brown in the can, but actually turned out a nice medium color that matches our wood floors almost exactly.

Why they call this product “oil” when it is water-based and cleans up with water, I have no idea, but since water does bead on the deck once it cured, I suppose it actually is an oil. Not being a scientist, I don’t really care what it’s called, but I hope people don’t get confused and shy away from the product because they think it’s oil based with all the additional work (and often toxic chemicals) that type of product entails.

Now that our deck looks gorgeous, I’m committed to doing what needs to be done to keep it that way (within reason-I don’t think you’ll see either of us out there daily sweeping water off). What this means, according to the label, is that annually, we will redo the Stain Prep and put on one coat of the deck oil.

We’ll check back in next summer. Meantime, I’m going out to enjoy the deck.