How to Stain Your Redwood Deck

Redwood decks are not only beautiful, but also expensive. It's very important that you keep your deck well maintained and clean so that it will stay in good shape. Maintaining your deck will allow you to continue to enjoy it in the years ahead. Water damage is one of the major things you need to protect your redwood deck from. Redwood tends to crack when water soaks through the wood's surface and cracking can lead to rot.

Staining your deck with a good redwood deck stain is one of the major things you can do to prevent water damage and rot. The redwood stain seals the deck and prevents water from soaking into the wood. Here is a step by step process you can follow to stain your redwood deck.

Your first step is to spot treat any oil spots or stains on your redwood deck with deck stain remover or cleaner. Once your have finished your spot cleaning, hose down your deck. It is better to use a garden hose than a power washer, because a power washer can damage your deck's wood. If you prefer to use a power washer, make sure you use the most gentle cycle and take care not to damage the redwood.

After the deck has been hosed down, clean the deck with a cleaning solution. You can use a deck cleaner or a mixture of detergent and deck cleaner. Pour the cleaning solution over the deck and scrub thoroughly with a scrub brush.

Wash and scrub small areas of the deck at a time so that your cleaning solution doesn't dry on the redwood. Thoroughly scrub a small area and then rinse the cleaning solution off with a hose. Repeat the process until you have completely cleaned the whole deck.

Before you can apply redwood stain, you need to let the deck completely dry. It may take as many as three days for your deck to dry. When selecting a redwood stain to use, make sure that it is a sealant as well. It is better to apply redwood stain when the weather is cool, such as in the early morning. When applying the redwood stain, make sure you cover the deck thoroughly and don't miss any spots. You want to completely protect your redwood deck from water damage and other severe weather.

You should re-stain your redwood deck on a regular basis. Some redwood stains claim that they last for five years, but it is probably a good idea to re-stain your deck every couple of years to prevent water damage and keep your deck well maintained. Staining your redwood deck is not hard to do. The small amount of time that it will take you is well worth the effort to prevent your deck from weather damage so that you can enjoy it for years to come.