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Clean, Stain, and Entertain

Three easy ways to get your deck ready for summer fun with friends and family.

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (April 27, 2021) – If 2020 taught us anything, it was a renewed appreciation of our homes and how we can make them as comfortable and fun as possible – especially in the summer.

With more people spending time in their backyards, decks likely got their fair share of use and might be looking faded and worn from sunlight and moisture.

Spring is a great time to treat your deck to a little TLC and prep it for the months ahead. Taking the time now to clean and refinish it means that you’ll be able to extend your outdoor fun well into fall and beyond.

Contrary to popular belief, refinishing a deck doesn’t need to take a lot of time and effort. Here are three easy steps from Westlake Ace Hardware on how to spruce up a deck with minimum work and maximum success.

1. Inspect and repair. Reset popped nail heads and replace rusted nails. Remove soft, split, or rotted boards, check rails and steps for loose parts and repair or replace items as needed. If your deck has multiple stories or extends from the second floor of your house, inspect the underside of it for any problem areas and address those.

2. Scrub and clean. Thoroughly sweep your deck with a broom or clear off debris quickly with the help of a leaf blower. Using a premium deck cleaner product made specifically for the job, scrub by hand with a stiff brush or broom or use a power washer to apply deck cleaner and let it set for 10 minutes before rinsing it off.

Pay special attention to corners, upright surfaces and crevices as you clean the deck. Let the deck dry before staining. Depending on the weather, this may take a few hours or up to a day.

3. Stain and protect. If the deck is sun-damaged and faded, or if you’ve installed new wood floorboards or railings, you will need to apply a stain or a clear water sealer. Using a high-quality brush, roller, paint pad, or sprayer, apply stain or sealer when the air temperature is between 50-80 degrees Fahrenheit – this allows for consistent and even drying.

Be sure to stir your stain often as you apply because it contains resins suspended in water to provide deep penetration, color retention, and maximum durability. Cover any nearby plant containers, bushes or flowers to protect them.

A clear water sealer does not color the wood and is designed primarily for protection against moisture. Products that contain both sealer and stain contain pigment that helps protect against damage from sunlight and water.

Working from the far corner of the deck to the exit, on 10 to 15 square feet sections of boards at a time, apply the sealer in the same way as you would if applying stain. The sealer should be allowed to dry at least 24 hours after application, so make sure there is no rain in the forecast.

 

About Westlake Ace Hardware

Headquartered in the Kansas City area, 115-year-old Westlake Ace Hardware has been the helpful neighborhood hardware store countless generations have shopped at for power and hand tools, fasteners, paint, plumbing, lawn care, pet, electrical supplies, and BBQ grills and accessories. It has been part of the Ace Hardware Cooperative since 1959, and a wholly owned Ace subsidiary since 2012.

With access to more than 70,000 products, Westlake Ace lives the Ace Helpful Promise every day by delivering reliable service, helpful advice, and products so its customers and neighbors get their projects done right every time. Westlake Commercial offers a wide array of HVAC equipment, plumbing supplies, safety products, commercial lighting, paint, and other hard-to-find products to business and trade customers.

Westlake currently owns and operates 149 stores in 12 states:

  • California (Ace Hardware of Chico, Fresno, La Crescenta, Livermore, Mountain View, Pinole, South Pasadena, Thousand Oaks, Turlock, Van Nuys, West LA, and Woodland)
  • Illinois (Buikema’s Ace Hardware)
  • Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas (Westlake Ace Hardware)
  • North Carolina (Westlake Ace Hardware, Outer Banks Ace Hardware)
  • Washington (Dennis Company Ace, North Bend Ace Hardware, Westlake Ace Hardware)
Media Contact:

Tom Mentzer
Mentzer PR Group (for Westlake Ace Hardware)
(913) 626-9066
tmentzer@mprg.biz

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