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Building a deck is a great way to add outdoor living space to your home. They are a place for family gatherings, parties, and best of all cookouts. You can build the deck your self using deck plans or you can hire a professional. After building your deck or having it built, you need to protect it with a good quality deck sealer. Cleaning the wood is a very important and crucial step when preparing the wood for sealer. Even new wood will need to be cleaned before sealing. The wood deck should be allowed to dry out for a two to three month period before starting the deck cleaning process. It was once believed that a deck should “weather” for a year before attempting to seal it but the truth is most of the water and sun damage is done to the wood during this period. The point of letting the wood dry out is so that moisture is not trapped in the wood once it is sealed. Ideally, you want a 12% or less moisture content in the wood before protecting it and normally several months is plenty of time. Maintaining your wooden deck is important to the longevity of the deck. Decks can be expensive especially extravagant ones so it makes sense to protect the wood and to keep it maintained every couple of years. Decks can definitely add value to your home so if you go through the expensive of having one built or you’re lucky enough to have one on a home you bought, have a professional deck cleaner maintain it’s beauty for you.
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