How to Repaint a Deck

Tips for cleaning your deck

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Deck Cleaner
• Sand Paper
• Paint
• Paint Brushes

1. The first thing to do is clean your patio . Any good commercial cleaner, soap and water or TSP (A cleaning compound based on an alkaline material) will work well for cleaning outside furniture. TSP is stronger than most other cleaners and will remove quite a few marks. TSP is also good for preparing the painted surface for repainting.
2. Use a medium fine sandpaper to feather the edges of any chips or scratches. A liquid deglosser application is a good idea, although TSP will usually leave a painted surface in repaintable condition. The liquid deglosser, liquid sandpaper for example, will save lots of elbow grease with sanding.
3. If there are any bare spots they should be primed and feathered, then the whole piece should be primed. Either a spray, or brush on primer will do the job. A toothbrush and toothpaste will remove many stains or marks, even waxy marks.
4. Now you should be ready for the final finish. Use a good exterior paint, brush on paint will work fine to give you like new patio at a small fraction of the cost of new furniture.

Tips & Warnings

• A pressure washer (less than 1500 psi) will make cleaning the deck a lot easier
• Because TSP contains phosphate, its use may be controlled in certain geographical areas.
• Make sure the pressure washer will not damage the wood. Use a wide angled nozzle and keep the nozzle atleast 6 inches away from the wood.