0

I am planning to power wash my deck and stain it afterwards. But I am confused with most of you saying Bleach it, one says NO WAY! My deck was built in 1987 as pressure treated lumber 2" thick vs. the standard 1 3/4", and was let go for the last 5 or so years by previous owners who moved out of state. It has a Cabot red stain on it; most of it gone, and a lot of green mold. It is in full sun from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m and it is tiered, so it slowly goes down 4 tiers. No way staining can get on french doors.

I plan on using a 2 gallon sprayer for the stain when the time comes, but pressure wash it with a Subaru Costco pressure washer. Quite a bit of wood is in bad shape. We plan on replacing in the next year or so.

|improve this question
  • What do the french doors have to do with your question? – Ecnerwal Jul 30 '17 at 12:53
  • The wood deck leads to the french door frame which also needs to be powered sprayed and finished to match the deck. Same kind of wood and age, – U-Stuff Feb 17 at 19:26
1

"Green mold" on a deck is almost certainly algae, not mold.

A bleach-water mixture (not straight bleach - perhaps 1 cup per gallon at the most, considerably less might be sufficient) will kill the algae and make it much easier to remove.

I happen to know someone who (evidently) is a big fan of pressure-washers and not much of a fan of bleach or scrub brushes. They'll go 3 days with the pressure washer to do what one day with bleach and a scrub-brush would do more effectively, and the traces of algae that are left behind recolonize in short order. You can be that guy, or not...

|improve this answer
  • not. I agree w/your take... – U-Stuff Feb 17 at 19:31
1

I had a similar problem years ago with cedar siding and a pressure treated deck that needed to be cleaned before applying a stain. I cleaned the mildew from the wood using sodium percarbonate. With a little scrubbing it worked very well. You mix the granular powder with hot water, and since you will be working on a deck, sweep it in with a broom, hose it off with water. The residual salts from the sodium are minimal and doesn't threaten the environment.

I bought my powder at the chemicalstore.com See the link:

https://shop.chemicalstore.com/navigation/detail.asp?MySessionID=211-708688697&CatID=&id=SPC2010

|improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.