Day 26. Clean Deck and/or Patio

Day 26 of “A 30 Day Guide to Spring Cleaning“.

---

Your deck and patio areas likely see a lot of use, especially if you live a lifestyle like ours, which is why it’s so important to clean your deck and patio areas. Our dogs, kids, and everyone else spend a lot of time on our deck and patio (especially because of our soil type and how dusty the yard gets!). You will need to take care of these items to keep them well maintained for stability, longitivity, and to keep them looking great!

Commonly, the easiest way to clean these types of areas would be to power wash them. Unfortunately, not all surfaces can tolerate power washing depending on the materials, and the setup of the area, which is why I wanted to review not only power washing, but some alternative options to this as well.

---

What to clean:

• Decks
• Patios
• Porches
• Cement pads

---

Supplies needed:

• Cleaning Solutions
• Stiff Bristle Scrub Brush ‘paid link’
• Pressure Washer
• Bucket
• Cleaning gloves
• Eye protection
• Recommended:
  • Gas Pressure Washer ‘paid link’, Stiff Bristle Scrub Brush ‘paid link’, 30 Seconds Outdoor Cleaner, Soap and Water
• Alternative:
  • Your preferred deck cleaner or patio cleaner, your preferred power washer (if you have one)

---

Patios or Decks to Avoid Pressure Washing

I prefer pressure washing surfaces outdoors to clean them, as pressure washing provides a very nice and clean surface if done correctly. Ideally, I would pressure wash everything outside to clean it, but there are some things to take into consideration:

Would pressure washing damage the surface?

Would pressure washing disturb the materials?

Is pressure washing the right method for my surface?

These items are important to consider when determining your best route of action when cleaning your outdoor surfaces. There are a few surfaces off hand that stand out as cautionary surfaces when power washing:

• Small pavers
• Patios with gravel or decorative sand integrated within
• Stained or painted surfaces (unless you plan to re-stain or re-paint them)
• Old wooden decks (if the wood is too weather worn, it will peel under pressure washing)
• Old mortar or brick

Once you have determined if you are able to pressure wash your surfaces, I would move forward with this suggested method of cleaning.

---

Pressure Washing Your Deck or Patio

Pressure washing is the method of cleaning that uses pressurized water to mechanically clean surfaces. If used properly, a pressure washer can provide great results for outdoor cleaning. I highly recommend using a gas pressure washer, but this may be due to my experience with gas pressure washers. Personally, I feel that they hold steady pressure better than an electric pressure washer. Additionally, use eye protection when power washing to avoid any debris from backsplash getting into your eyes.

How to Pressure Wash

1. Remove all furniture and items from the surface you will be pressure washing.
2. Prepare your pressure washer. Attach the hose to the proper spot based on the manufacturers instructions. Assure the gas and/or oil are filled properly according to your manufacturers directions.
3. Sweep the surface you will be power washing, and remove any debris from the surface.
4. Assure the attachment on your pressure washer is a “fan” attachment, and not a solid stream or torpedo attachment.
5. Start your pressure washer, and test an inconspicuous spot to assure no damage is created by the pressure of the water.
6. Begin pressure washing from the closest point to your home, and work you way to the outer edge of your deck or patio.
7. Be sure to follow your pressure washer’s manufacturer instructions.
8. Work in lines moving towards the edge using feathering movements back and forth to remove surface residue. Keep a consistent distance from the surface you are cleaning.
9. Make sure to keep your pressure washer end about 18″ from the surface you are cleaning to avoid damage.
10. Work with the power washer following the grain of the wood, or the brush of the cement you are power washing. If you are working with a smooth surface, just follow the same pattern to assure any “cleaner” spots look symmetrical or purposeful.
11. Once you have completed power washing the surface, allow the surface to dry before walking on it.

If you have pets or children, I completely understand that it is difficult the keep people or pets from walking across your surface. Do your best to keep the area contained, but don’t fret too much about them walking on the area, as it will likely sweep off well once it dries. If it doesn’t, and the marks are bothering you, you can always take a quick scrub brush to it later on.

---

Scrubbing Your Deck or Patio With Soap

If you have a surface that should not be pressure washed, you don’t have a pressure washer, or you just don’t feel like pressure washing, you can always scrub your surface with soap and water. Soap and water and a stiff bristled brush will clean a lot of every day buildup off your deck or patio surfaces without damaging the stain or paint that is on the surface (unless the paint is already worn and/or peeling).

The down side to using soap and water to scrub your surface is if there is algae, mildew, or mold buildup on your surface, just soap and water with a brush will likely not remove these items. In these cases, you will need a stronger cleaning solution, which I will discuss below.

How to Clean with Soap and Water

1. Remove all furniture and items from the surface you will be cleaning.
2. Prepare your cleaning items, getting together a hose, a bucket of soapy water and a stiff bristle brush.
3. Sweep the area you will be cleaning.
4. Dip your brush in the bucket of soapy water, and begin scrubbing the surface following the grain of the wood or brushing of the cement.
5. Once scrubbing is completed, rinse the area off with a water hose.

If you find that the soap and water is not enough to clean the buildup off your surface, you will want to use an outdoor cleaner, deck cleaner, or patio cleaner to remove the buildup instead.

---

Cleaning Your Deck or Patio with Cleaner

if you have found that soap and water was not enough to clean your deck or patio, you will want to use an outdoor cleaner. Outdoor cleaners can be multi surface, or specified to a material. I highly recommend this 30 Seconds Outdoor Cleaner ‘paid link’, which is for multiple surfaces. This cleaner is safe to use around pets and plants, which is a plus in my book! This type of cleaner works great for those tough algae, mold and mildew stains. Be prepared to use a lot of cleaner if you have a heavily soiled surface. Always follow your chemical manufacturers directions when using chemicals and mix or use accordingly. Additionally, you may want eye protection or rubber cleaning gloves.

My deck was in rough shape when we moved in, it is truly in need of replacing, but I wanted to give it a facelift. My initial though was to pressure wash the deck, because power washing can take that grey weathered wood look away as well. I was quickly able to determine that our deck was too old and weathered to continue pressure washing. The wood on the deck started splintering and shredding under the pressure.

How to Clean with Outdoor Cleaner

1. Read instructions and safety precautions for your chemical.
2. Remove all furniture and items from the surface you will be cleaning.
3. Prepare your cleaning items, getting together your cleaner, sprayer if needed (follow proper instructions for your sprayer), mixing according to instructions, stiff bristle brush and any safety items needed. My recommended cleaner is a 1 part cleaner to 1 part water mix.
4. Sweep the area you will be cleaning. Additionally, I rinsed my deck off with a hose and allowed it to dry.
5. Follow the cleaner instructions for application. My recommended cleaner states to saturate the dried surface keeping it wet for 3 – 10 minutes depending on materials.
   • 3 minutes: painted surfaces, metal, plastics
   • 5 minutes: wood (stain can become blotchy and will need re-treated)
   • 10 minutes: concrete, masonry
6. Use a stiff bristled brush after allowing this to sit for the recommended time. Brush the surface working with the grain or pre-set brush strokes.
7. Rinse the surface thoroughly with a water hose.

You will really need to saturate the surface with this cleaner, and it will use a lot more than you expect, but the results are great if you aren’t able to pressure wash your surface!

---

If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments and I would be happy to get back with you.

Check out Day 25. Clean Your Washer and Dryer here.

Check out Day 27. Clean Your Driveway here.

If you would like to see the remainder of this 30 day cleaning guide posts, please enter your email below and you will receive email notifications for future posts.