My deck is aging unevenly - what do I do about it?
September 24, 2021 8:26 AM   Subscribe

The previous owner built a deck before we moved in. It's aging unevenly and starting to look not so good. Is this a problem? If so, how bad? And what do we need to do about it? We're in the pacific NW so we have a month or two to deal with this before it will get drizzled on nonstop for 4 months.
posted by tylermoody to Home & Garden (7 answers total)
 
It looks like you have two things going on - it looks like it wasn't stained consistently and then it looks like some of the fasteners are rusting out and causing those black marks.

For the first I suggest getting some of timber pro's wood prep (there is an outlet store in portland), and then some of their darker stains and putting a couple of coats on.

The timber pro stuff works pretty good and what we use on our cedar fence in the pacnw.

For the second you might want to pull a nail and see how it's holding up and if you need to replace those fastenings with heavy galvanized or stainless steel.
posted by iamabot at 8:47 AM on September 24, 2021 [1 favorite]


Besides being stained inconsistently, it looks like at least parts of it were built with lumber that's normally intended for interior structural use, i.e. softer and untreated. I don't know your area's building practices, but in my part of the country (PA), non-upscale decks are all built from treated southern yellow pine, which this is (mostly) not. In a wet area, I wouldn't count on it lasting too many years no matter what you do.
posted by jon1270 at 9:21 AM on September 24, 2021 [4 favorites]


I'm in the PNW too. Agreeing with the stain advice, it makes a huge difference. I use Penofin products which can be ordered online. It's a fabulous oil stain that gives wood a natural-looking color and conditions it too. Their "red oak" shade might work well for those top and bottom railings.

Decide whether you want to do any sandpaper prep. Apply the stain with a brush or soft cloth that doesn't shed. It should cure for three days. If you expect rain in the meantime, it might be wise to cover the rails with a tarp. You shouldn't need to reapply the stain for about 24 months.
posted by cartoonella at 9:23 AM on September 24, 2021


Are those rails pressure treated ? If not, don't waste your time putting expensive stain on them, just replace them as soon as you can afford, as common 2x4's will never hold up like pt lumber. If they are, perhaps they were waiting for the pt wood to season a bit before staining.
posted by lobstah at 10:07 AM on September 24, 2021 [2 favorites]


Yeah, it appears the light rails may not be pressure treated, so your easiest/best long-term option may be to remove them and replace. They appear to be 2x4s, which means it would be pretty straightforward so long as the fasteners are screws, not nails. (Still totally doable if they are nails, but prying it apart will be more work and take longer than unscrewing.)
posted by lhputtgrass at 1:50 PM on September 24, 2021


This looks like fairly normal for a weathering for a wood deck- you can see that the balusters are also weathering just above the bottom rail where water from the deck splashes up on them.

I wouldn't assume that the wood isn't pressure treated- in fact those nailhead stains are very consistent with an issue with PT wood, namely that the copper compounds speed corrosion of ferrous metals unless the correct fasteners are used. It's also entirely possible that the some of the PT wood wasn't completely dry before the previous finish was applied and that's why you're seeing weathering on the exposed parts. This lumber is often holding lots of moisture from the pressure treating process and can take months to dry out. If it was "wet" then the stain can't penetrate as well.

If the wrong fasteners were used for ACQ pressure treated wood (and the staining indicates that may be the case) they will need to be replaced. Personally I like screws and bolts for outdoor construction because they cause fewer problems like popping up. I'd also question why there needs to be an exposed nailhead at every baluster on the outside- normally you'd attach the balusters by screwing/nailing through them to the back rail such that the point was not exposed on the back rail, then you'd cover the heads with a rail on the inside. Much less exposure of the fasteners to weathering that way.
posted by oneirodynia at 3:06 PM on September 24, 2021 [3 favorites]


... with that sort of configuration. Balusters/spindles are also regularly fastened vertically through the top and bottom rail, and then capped on top so they can't be seen at all.
posted by oneirodynia at 3:10 PM on September 24, 2021 [1 favorite]


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