How To Use An Air Compressor To Make Your Deck Look Brand New Again

Industrial & Manufacturing Articles

With the aid of an air compressor from a place like Kruman, many jobs are much easier to complete because pneumatic tools have more power than conventional power tools. When your wood deck turns gray, you need to remove the damaged exterior wood and protect it with new stain. Here are two ways you can use an air compressor to restore and renew your wood deck, maybe even without breaking a sweat.

Strip the Wood

When your deck turns gray, it is because the sun's UV rays have caused damage to the lignin fibers in the wood. When the lignin fibers are damaged, they won't bind well to each other, causing them to flake off the wood of your deck. This is how the stain or paint on your deck slowly peels off over time. 

The first step in restoring your deck is to remove the top layer of gray wood because it contains damaged lignin fibers.

With a pressure washer, you will be able to strip off the top layer of your wood deck, including any stain, paint, or mold. Be sure to use smooth, even motions with your pressure washer because the spray can cause damage to the wood. If you allow the pressurized water to hit one spot on your deck for too long, you will gouge the wood, giving the wood an uneven and scratched appearance.

You can aim the pressure washer wand at various angles to reach all the cracks and crevices of your deck's wood. If you were to scrape or sand all the gray wood off by hand, it could take you hours.

Brighten the Wood

As you spray off your deck's surface you may still have some dark streaks and stains left behind in the wood that your pressure washer wasn't able to pull up. This is where the wood has reacted with the metal in the nails or screws the deck was built with. This is why it is important to only use double-dipped galvanized, stainless steel or aluminum fasteners when you build outdoor wooden structures. 

Use a wood lightener to remove these stains in your deck, especially if you will be staining the wood, instead of painting, to highlight the beautiful wood grain. If the stain in the wood is a brownish color, wipe a Trisodium Phosphate solution with a paint brush to remove the stain. If the wood stain is black, paint on an Oxalic Acid solution to remove it.

Stain and Protect the Wood

A study conducted by the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin found that the longer wood sat in the sun, the worse the UV damage became. It was found that to keep your wood deck from graying, you would need to protect it with a stain or sealer before it is exposed to the sun. Any small amount of UV exposure will cause your wood to become damaged. 

Your wood deck will begin to be exposed to UV rays as soon as you remove the damaged gray layer of wood. If your deck is not in the shade, cover it with a shade awning or a tarp. And, because you need to let the wood dry before applying the stain sealer, continue to use the awning or tarp to protect it from damaging UV rays while it dries.

A tinted finish or semi-transparent stain with UV protection will allow your wood's grain to show, but will protect it from any future UV damage. Using a pneumatic paint sprayer, spray one to two coats of your chosen wood treatment and let it dry according to the directions.

By using an air compressor to strip and stain your deck instead of doing the work manually or with conventional power tools, you can save yourself time and energy.

29 January 2015