Repairing a deck? Do it yourself!

By Julio Fernández Agüero, Centro de Pinturas Costa Ballena

Today I want to tell you that repairing a wooden deck that has been exposed to the elements is easier than it seems if we take the correct route when carrying out the project.

“The first thing we should know is that in any painting system, 80% of success depends on surface preparation, equally important is the other 20% that corresponds to choosing the right products and their application.”

Knowing this, we must proceed to sand the wood of the deck, remove all the damaged material, also remove all the wood damaged by the sun and moisture. For this, we must use a vibration or orbital sander. We choose these sanders because they don’t polish wood like band sanders or other sanders that work at high revs. The grain of the sandpaper can vary from 36 to 60 to remove damaged material and wood. Later we sand with grain 80 to 100 to fi nish preparing the wood of the deck to receive the finish.

For the choice of products we must take into account at least four factors:
1-Wood species and its characteristics.
2-Type of the environment to which the wood is subjected (moderate, medium or severe)
3-Incidence of Sun.
4-Type of weather.

Now, here in the Costa Ballena area, we work hard and dense woods, the environment is severe, the sun has a strong impact, and the climate is subtropical and tropical humid forest. Taking these factors into account, we recommend the application of a wood preservation product that will protect against fungal, algae, and insect damage.

Then for the fi nish, we can use a varnish type product for brush application, with UV fi lters and preferably formulated with polyurethane resin. We apply four complete coats with a time of 6 hours between coats. After the last application, we wait 36 hours to dry and ready we have our deck as new.

CONTACT : Julio Fernández Agüero – Pinturas Costa Ballena