by Carey, James
Because of the chipping, bubbling, and splitting normally associated with painted decks and handrails, we’re reluctant to suggest painting. However, if you do decide to paint, do the following:
1. Make sure that the surface is thoroughly clean and that the wood is dry.
Go to extremes to get the wood clean: pressure-washing, sanding, and detergent scrubbing. (Turn to Chapter 5 for cleaning instructions.)
2. Remove all loose nails and replace them with the next larger size.
The larger nail will provide a like-new grip, holding loosened wood firmly in place. Use a hammer and nail punch to countersink all nails (see Figure 18-1). Fill the resultant nail hole with a high-quality, exterior-grade putty.
Use a hinge pin (removed from a door hinge) as an oversized nail set — it’s much easier for a novice to use than a common skinny tipped nail punch.
Figure 18-1: Countersink-ing a nail.
3. Fill all other holes with a high-quality, exterior-grade putty.
While you’re applying the putty, be sure to remove all excess putty to keep sanding to a minimum.
4. Apply a high-quality polyurethane caulk at all joints.
5. Prime all bare areas and puttied spots with a high-quality, oil-based primer.
6. Finish decks with a high-grade, oil-based finish. Handrails can be finished with a good-quality, acrylic paint.
Remember: Be prepared to recaulk and touch up paint every year.
Never paint a wood surface that has previously been oiled. The paint won’t stick, and you’ll have a mess on your hands forever. After wood is oiled or oil stained, even the most minute spots of leftover paint show up like a headlight on Lover’s Lane.
If you insist on painting an oiled surface (or on oiling a painted surface), you must first take the time to use a paint remover followed by thoroughly sanding the wood. Our advice? Repaint painted surfaces and re-oil oiled surfaces.
Preservative
One of the best ways to protect your wood surfaces is to use a high-quality, oil-based wood preservative — the same kind we suggest for exterior siding (see Chapter 5). Using an oil-based wood preservative with ultraviolet inhibitors keeps wood and wood-composite surfaces looking newer longer.
Unlike paint, oil doesn’t lay on the surface; it penetrates deeply into the pores of the wood, preventing the attack of moisture from within. Oil also penetrates between joints and connections. With oil, there is no rigid surface layer (as there is with paint) that can bubble or split. However, oil eventually evaporates out of the wood, leaving it unprotected. If you use an oil preservative, you need to recoat your wood every 12 to 18 months.
Excessive amounts of oil can puddle, and puddled oil doesn’t dry. Plus, puddling scuffs easily and can stick to furniture, feet, and shoes — meaning the destruction of interior floors. So when you oil horizontal surfaces (especially decks), take care: They’re less forgiving than vertical surfaces (such as fences, posts, and rails).
Help force the oil or oil stain into the surface by going back over the entire area with a paintbrush or roller (called back-brushing). A China-bristle or natural-bristle paintbrush is by far the best applicator for use with oil. Don’t use a nylon paintbrush with oils, oil stains, or oil-based paints.
You can also make your own wood preservative at home. You need:
Boiled linseed oil
Mineral spirits
Pigment (the kind used to color paint)
Mildicide (a pesticide that kills mildew; it’s available at paint stores)
Mix equal parts of oil and mineral spirits. Then add pigment to the intensity you like, and stir in a package of mildicide. (Follow the instructions for the mildicide as if you were adding it to an equal volume of paint.)
When applying the preservative, don’t put it on too thick. A little bit goes a long way. Don’t forget to back-brush and wipe up any puddling. Remember: Oil and oil-stain puddles never dry. They turn into sticky, gummy messes that are nearly impossible to remove from your shoes.
Even the most clear of finishes slightly darken wood. To see how dark the wood gets, simply wet your thumb with a drop or two of water and press the wet appendage against the wood. The wet wood will look the same when oiled.
Stain
Choose a stain that’s designed for the surface you want to cover:
Horizontal surfaces: Well-meaning do-it-yourselfers often end up applying stains designed for vertical surfaces (such as siding, trellises, and fences) on horizontal surfaces (such as decks, porches, and steps). But if you want to stain a horizontal surface, look for a product designed specifically for decks. Deck stains are made to resist scuffing where lots of traffic is expected.
A semitransparent, oil-based stain is a good bet. The combination of oil and a pigment protects the wood from both sun and water and hides surface irregularities. Plan to spend in the neighborhood of $35 to $55 per gallon on semitransparent, oil-based stain. A gallon covers approximately 300 to 500 square feet.
Vertical surfaces: Stains designed for use on vertical surfaces are not as abrasion resistant as those made for decks. A semitransparent stain shows off the beauty of the wood because you can see through the stain. A solid-color stain won’t show through, but the solid color protects the wood for a longer period of time. Solid-color stain is not like paint; it looks like paint and acts like stain — full coverage, but without the pitting, chipping, splitting or bubbling.
Always apply an oil or oil-stain finish (wood preservative) either early or late in the day when the wood is not in full sun. The thinner that helps the oil penetrate evaporates quickly on hot days and can reduce the viscosity of the oil to a glue-like mess. Oil that’s too thick will end up laying on the surface. One to three very thin applications of a high-quality product may be required.
Clear finish
If you like the natural color of the wood that you want to protect, and you don’t want to alter its appearance, try a clear finish. Just be sure that the clear finish that you purchase contains UV inhibitors to fight off an ultraviolet sunburn.
Beware of the popular “cure-all” water seals. Many of these products contain petroleum jelly or paraffin, which offer minimal water protection and absolutely no UV protection. Furthermore, these products have little penetration and rapidly evaporate.
Cleaning Your Wood and Composite-Wood Structures
Always keep a wood surface free of any debris. Leaves, pine needles, and dirt hold water and accelerate rot. An occasional sweeping is all that’s required. You can also give your wood surfaces — oiled (clear finish), oil-stained, or painted — a good scrubbing using the following formula:
1/2 cup liquid chlorine bleach (if moss is present)
1 gallon hot water
1 cup powdered laundry detergent
Add the bleach to the water, and then add the detergent.
Although this solution is mild, be sure to wear gloves and eye protection.
Work the solution into the surface with a stiff-bristle broom or a nylon brush. After scrubbing the surface, completely rinse it with water.
If you plan to refinish the wood after cleaning, allow the wood to completely dry before applying the finish. After it’s dry, countersink any nail heads that rise above the deck’s surface, or replace them with larger nails.
To get a composite-wood deck to last longer, simply keep it clean. Cleaning in spring and fall will reduce the chance for mold. Contact the wood-composite manufacturer to find out what cleaners it recommends. Some manufacturers suggest a household degreasing agent for oil and grease stains and good old household bleach for mold. In the absence of a proper cleaner, a mild detergent always works.
For more-extensive cleaning measures, read on.
Power-washing
A thorough cleaning with a pressure washer (which you can rent from a paint store or tool-rental company) saves a lot of elbow grease and makes those hard-to-get-to areas, like handrails and trellises, easy to clean. Pressure-washing natural wood that has tu
rned gray can help remove discoloration and can bring the wood back to its natural color.
We were pressure-washing a home one day, when momentarily, we became engrossed in conversation and got distracted. To make a long story short, the tip of the pressure washer got a little too close to the wall. By the time we turned around to pay attention to what we were doing, the high-pressure jet of water had cut a hole completely through a 5/8-inch-thick layer of plywood siding.
Use extreme caution when operating a pressure washer, not only to avoid damage to the surface of the wood but also to avoid personal injury.
Using a wood brightener
Severely neglected oiled or oil-stained wood may require washing with a wood-brightening product. Look for one that contains oxalic acid.
Apply the product with a nylon brush in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Wear protective clothing, rubber boots, gloves, and safety goggles to avoid injury.
Giving wood a facelift with sanding
If an exterior wood surface is too far gone to bring back to life with just a coat of paint or wood brightener and a coat of oil, then you may want to consider sanding. If you decide to sand it yourself, look for a power tool to help with the job. Large surfaces take forever to hand-sand. For a deck, rent a floor sander to make the job easier.
By the way, if the existing surface is painted, this would be a great time to completely remove it and convert to oil.
Countersink all nails at least 1/4-inch deep before sanding.
For a floor sander, start with 30-grit paper and work your way up to 100-grit. For hand sanders start with 80-grit paper and work your way up to 200-grit. Regardless of the type of sander, sand first cross-grain, then in both diagonal directions, and then, finally, in the direction of the grain.
Tightening Loose Rails, Fence Boards, and Fence Posts
Loose fence rails and fence boards can be a problem. A fence can suddenly begin flopping in the wind, looking tattered and sloppy. Reattach loose rails and fence boards with nails or screws.
Be sure to use hot-dipped galvanized (not electro-coated galvanized) nails, ceramic-coated construction screws, or stainless screws. Regular shiny, non-coated nails can completely rot out in as little as a year or two.
When a fence post begins to rot at the base, the fence it supports is usually not long for this world. In the old days, when we were maintenance men on the Ark, a rotten fence post meant digging out the concrete pier surrounding the base of the post and replacing the whole kit and caboodle. Today, a pair of metal connectors, known as fence-post repair brackets, can be used to make such a repair.
Not every post can be reused. If the rot at the post base extends more than 8 or 10 inches above the concrete pier that holds the post in the ground, then the post should be replaced. Also, there must be at least 3 inches of concrete between the edge of the fence post and the outside edge of the concrete pier.
To repair a fence post, you need only a few items:
1 small block of wood
1 piece of scrap two-by-four, about 6 inches long
1 pair of fence-post repair brackets
Hammer
Flat pry bar
Shovel
Sledgehammer
A few screws or a handful of 10d-size, hot-dipped galvanized nails
Just follow these steps:
1. Brace the fence with the two-by-four to hold it in a plumb position until the repair can be completed (see Figure 18-2).
Holding the fence in an upright position, wedge one end of the two-by-four into the landscape and nail the other end of the brace to the fence near the post to be repaired. Don’t drive in the nail all the way. The brace is temporary, and you’ll have to remove the nail after you’ve made the repair.
Figure 18-2: Bracing your fence for repair.
2. Using the hammer, remove any fence boards that cover the area to be repaired.
Use a block of wood to buffer the blow of the hammer, which reduces the chance of damaging a fence board. Lay the block against the fence board and strike the block with the hammer. The flat pry bar can be helpful here.
3. Shovel the dirt away, exposing the base of the post and the top of the concrete pier.
Sweep the area clean so that you can clearly see the outline of the post in the concrete. Attempting to drive a fence-post repair bracket in the wrong location can easily bend the bracket, causing the project to become more than an unhappy experience for everyone involved.
4. Use the sledgehammer to drive in the brackets.
As you drive the bracket into place with the sledgehammer, it crushes the post and wedges itself into the concrete. The first bracket usually goes in pretty easily. However, the second one is more difficult to install because the first bracket usually uses up all the available space between the rotted portion of the post and the pier. Be prepared to apply more force to each blow of the sledgehammer to properly seat the second bracket.
5. Bolt, nail, or screw the brackets into the post.
Because the brackets are tightly wedged between the pier and the post, the way in which you attach the bracket to the post usually is not terribly important. However, where substantial post damage exists, use bolts.
6. Replace the fence boards, remove the temporary brace, and refill the post hole.
You’ve just saved more than $200. Go have a beer — you deserve it!
Wood fence posts always seem to rot in the exact same place: at ground level. Why not? That’s where the dirt and the water are. Make sure the earth around a fence post slopes down and away to help shed water and keep the post dryer. If you can’t do that, add a sloped concrete cap to the top of the pier. Mix up a small amount of ready-mix concrete and build up the top of the pier as if you were on the beach, building a sand castle.
Remedying Sagging Gates
A sagging wooden gate is a nuisance at best, and can, at some point, become impossible to open. The problem must be pretty common, because someone has already packaged and marketed a repair kit for exactly that purpose. It’s called a gate repair kit or turnbuckle kit, and it consists of a cable with corner mounting brackets and a turnbuckle. The nice thing about a turnbuckle kit is that it can be tightened or loosened to raise or lower the gate.
The kit contains:
Two metal corner brackets with mounting nails
Two lengths of wire cable with galvanized metal U-bolts, which are used to attach one end of each cable to one of the corner brackets and then the other end of each cable to the turnbuckle
A galvanized metal turnbuckle
Here’s how it works:
1. Attach a metal bracket to the upper corner of the gate (on the hinge side).
2. Mount another bracket diagonally at the lower corner of the gate on the latch side.
3. Attach cables to each corner bracket and then to the two ends of a turnbuckle (see Figure 18-3).
As you tighten the turnbuckle, the latch side of the gate rises. As you loosen the turnbuckle, the latch side of the gate drops.
This system won’t work if the upper bracket isn’t placed on the hinge side of the gate.
Figure 18-3: Giving your gate a facelift.
Termite Treachery: Protecting Your Wood against Critters
Termites are a universal problem. And when wood buried in the ground is connected to your home — regardless of whether the buried wood is pest-resistant — that wood can act as a secret corridor from the ground to the interior of your home. A fence that has posts buried in the ground and is attached to the house, for example, can act as a termite superhighway.
