Tips

Deck Care & Cleaning

Caring for your EverGrain® deck includes a few simple preventive measures, as well as periodic cleanings that will help maintain the natural beauty of your deck.

Please note that any cleaning product can lighten the color of your deck. Always test any cleaning product in an inconspicuous area of your deck before cleaning a large area.

Reducing Dirt & Grime
Semi-annual cleaning of your deck is recommended to reduce dirt, dust, grime and other residue build-up. When cleaning, rinse your deck with a garden hose using a fan-tip nozzle at a pressure not exceeding 1,000 psi.

Regular cleaning may not eliminate all dirt, dust, grime and other residue build-up on your deck. For a more thorough cleaning of your EverGrain deck, use a deck wash containing sodium hypochlorite such as those listed below:

BEHR® Multi-Surface Cleaner & Mildew Stain Remover
ARMOR ALL® E-Z Deck Wash
OLYMPIC® Deck Cleaner

Removing Rust Stains
Metal outdoor furniture can leave rust marks on your deck. Therefore, we recommend that you apply appropriate plastic or vinyl tips to metal furniture to prevent staining.

If rust stains do appear on your EverGrain deck, they can often be removed using deck cleaners containing oxalic acid or phosphoric acid such as those listed below:

BEHR® No.63 Wood Cleaner Brightener Conditioner
Flood® Dekswood® Deck Cleaner Brightener

Cleaning Oil and Grease Stains
To keep your deck in the best possible shape, we also recommend the use of grill mats to reduce the risk of grease stains associated with grills.

Should grease or oil stain the deck’s surface, it is important to clean the stain immediately using a commercial degreasing agent such as those listed below:

Castrol® Super Clean

Removing Suntan Lotion
Since suntan lotions and oils can potentially stain your deck, please take precautions to avoid these types of spills.

These stains can often be removed using commercial degreasing agents such as those listed below. Be sure to remove as much of the lotion spill as possible with water before using cleaning agents.

Dawn® Soap

Removing Mold and Mildew
Periodically rinse your deck with a garden hose, using a fan-tip nozzle at a pressure not exceeding 1,000 psi, to help reduce the occurrence of mold and mildew.

Mold and mildew stains are a natural result of moisture. These stains can often be removed using cleaners containing sodium hypochlorite such as those listed below:

BEHR® Multi-Surface Cleaner & Mildew Stain Remover
ARMOR ALL® E-Z Deck Wash
OLYMPIC® Deck Cleaner

Additional Tips

  • Dragging furniture and other objects across the deck boards may cause surface scratches.
  • Remove food, spills and other debris and clean immediately to minimize the possibility of staining.
  • Always test any cleaner on a small portion of your deck before cleaning the entire deck.
  • Always follow manufacturers’ application instructions when using any cleaner.
  • Please note that any cleaner can lighten the color of your deck.
  • Place mats under metal objects to protect against rust stains.
  • Place grill mats under your grill to protect your deck from grease spills.
  • Never mix two or more cleaning agents when cleaning your deck.
  • Do not use a metal shovel to remove snow or ice from your deck, as you may cause damage to the deck surface.
  • Always follow proper gapping (installation) instructions to prevent water from accumulating on your deck.
  • Keep the area under your deck clean and well ventilated.
  • Never apply harsh solvents such as acetone, gasoline, benzene, carbon tetrachloride or paint thinner to your deck.
  • Sanding the surface to remove stains is not recommended.

Establishing Turf Quality Grass

Turfgrass can be established a variety of ways. The method you choose will be determined by the situation your lawn is in. Depending on what condition your lawn is in will determine where to start. Let’s say you have a lawn that is in fair condition but needs thickening. An easy way to do this is to Aerate and overseed with a quality grass type. An aerator is a machine that will poke a hole in the ground (thousands of them actually) and remove a core of soil and leave it laying on the surface. These are called core aerators. To start with, mow your grass as low as you can safely, don’t throw rocks and dig dirt with the mower, but get it down to about 1″ high.

This will stunt the grass and slow it’s growth allowing the new grass that you will seed to get started with limited competition from the existing grass. After mowing take an aerator, rent one, buy one or borrow one, and go over the entire lawn at least twice. Once your done aerating, spread your seed. The amount of seed you use is important. If you don’t use enough you won’t get the desired results. Professionally, we use 350# per acre for lawns. Divided out per thousand square feet that is 8# per thousand square feet. This brings up an important point, measure the square footage of your lawn accurately and write it down. Every thing you do in lawn care will ask for how large the lawn is. Spread the seed with a spreader of any type, do not use your hand and just throw it around, you won’t get even coverage. Spread the seed using half of the required amount spreading it in one direction, use the other half spreading the opposite direction creating a cross hatch pattern on the lawn. This way you are assured of getting even coverage. After spreading the seed take a drag of any type, a piece of chain link fence, a board with a rope tied to it, or what ever you can drag behind your mower. Drag the lawn, this will push and drag seed into the holes you created and break up the little plugs of soil that the aerator left on the ground, it will cover up most of the seed giving much better germination and a thicker lawn. After dragging, spread a starter fertilizer, this can be done first if you want, it really doesn’t matter. A starter fertilizer has a higher middle number than first and last numbers. (More Phosphate) For complete explanation on what the numbers mean on fertilizer bags, how they affect grass and what micro-nutrients grass also needs, refer to our Lawn Care Manual. You will need to put down 8 pounds per thousand square feet of a 6-12-12 or 4 pounds per K of a 6-24-24. This will give the ground the nutrients needed to germinate and start a turf lawn, thus the name “starter fertilizer”. After about a month the new grass will start to yellow off some or maybe turn pale green, this is showing you that it is time to fertilize again. Apply 6# per K of 15-15-15 this will provide the nitrogen for green and growth and phosphate and potash for root growth and overall vigor. After the grass is about 3 weeks old you should be able to start mowing. CUT IT HIGH!!! Refer to the section on mowing for more. Fertilizing will also need to be done on a regular schedule. Refer to Fertilizing for a complete schedule. If you have a new home and this is the first lawn a few things are different. Mainly you will have to do clean up and get the proper grade before working on seeding. Once this is done you will have to till up the ground to make a soft seed bed. After tilling fertilize, and seed just as described above using the same amount of seed. After this you will have to cover the entire lawn with straw. Shake out straw to cover approximately 50% of the soil from view. After done you should be able to look down and still see about half of the soil showing through the straw, no more. This equates to about 100 bales per acre. After your done applying straw it’s time to start watering. Soak the lawn until runoff the first watering, followed by daily waterings of sufficient length to keep the soil wet. If it dries out, the seed won’t germinate.