Deck cleaning or wood restoration is one of the most misunderstood services when it comes to exterior cleaning. There is much more to restoring wood than just blasting water and slapping stain on a deck. The most common reason a sealer fails is because the wood was not prepped correctly.
Wood is actually very soft and is easily damaged with too much water pressure so it is essential to turn down the pressure and achieve the desired results with the proper chemicals. First it must be determined whether the deck needs cleaned or stripped. If the deck has never had sealer on it before than it can just be cleaned otherwise it needs to be stripped to remove all remnants of old sealer. After cleaning the wood it needs to be neutralized so it is more acidic and ready for the new sealer to adhere. The deck needs to dry out until the proper moisture content is reached usually in a couple of days.
When hiring a deck cleaning company be sure to ask the contractor his methods to determine is level of knowledge in wood restoration.
