How to Winterize Porches
Winter turns your outdoor spaces into unfamiliar terrain. While you will seldom use your porch during the winter, you can protect it from harsh conditions and provide yourself with a safer surface to walk across during the winter months. Winterizing your porch protects the wood from water damage caused by constant freezing and thawing during the winter and thus extends the life of your porch. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Wood soap
- Scrub brush
- Chemical deck stripper
- Water hose
- Water seal
- Paintbrush
- Plastic sheeting
- Staples
- Staple gun
Instructions
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1
Move all porch furniture to a dry and weather-protected area such as a garage or an extra room inside the home; you may put these items back on the porch later, if you do not have a proper storage site.
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2
Clean the porch to remove all debris and any mold or mildew, Wash the porch and all rails thoroughly with wood soap and a scrub brush. For optimal results, perform this cleaning on a sunny, dry day so that the water rapidly dries from the surfaces of the porch. Use a scrub brush attached to a pole or stick so that you do not have to crawl around on your hands and knees. Thoroughly rinse away all soapy residue and allow the porch to dry.
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3
Remove the finish from your porch if the finish has started deteriorating or you no longer want the finish. You can remove paint, stain and clear finishes with a chemical deck stripping product. Use a type of stripper that matches the material base of your deck finish, such as oil or latex bases. Apply the stripper and scrub to remove the finish from your porch.
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4
Rinse away the stripper chemical and debris with a water hose and allow the porch to dry completely before proceeding.
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5
Apply water sealer to the completely dry surfaces of the porch. Paint this seal onto the rails, rail tops, posts and floor of the porch to provide water protection to the porch. Apply two or more coats of this sealer onto the surfaces using a paintbrush.
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6
Allow the water seal to try between coats. Check the waterproofing between each coat by splashing a small amount of water onto the porch planks. If the water absorbs into the wood, you need to apply at least one more coat of sealant. If the water beads onto the surface of the planks, you have applied enough water sealant.
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7
Protect screened porches during the winter by covering the screens with plastic sheeting. Staple plastic sheets over the exterior of each screen section to protect the porch and screens from winter weather.
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Tips & Warnings
Shovel snow from uncovered porches often, to prevent the weight of the snow from burdening your porch and porch support beams.
If you will be storing outdoor furniture on the porch, wrap it in plastic sheeting to protect against water damage and the effects of freezing and thawing.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit house with corner porch image by jimcox40 from Fotolia.com
