I have a customer that wants a lot of work done, and she asked about some algae growth on her deck/stairs that was stained last year. I told her I’m mainly interested in protecting the finish over cleaning it but I would look into the proper way.
Sorry I didn’t think to get a pic but it’s similar to this, a honey colored rustic finish.
It has a light coat of green on the shady parts, wanted to check in with you guys first. I’d do a test spot first of course.
Aaaaa.
Acrylic or oil based?
I didn’t think to ask
What happened to your post Andy? I did read it, had some good suggestions.
Very odd to have growth but possible depending on surroundings.
I’d try just pressure first. I’m being careful either way but if it’s acrylic I’m letting the customer know it’s possible the stain will flake off but you’ll stop if it starts to do it. Oil based you should be fine with just pressure.
If that doesn’t work and you decide to use SH, do a couple test spots first.
Usually, it’s not a problem cleaning a deck with growth when you don’t want to damage the stain but the newness of the stain always makes me extra cautious like when I’m washing house with an attached deck. The deck gets wetted down a good deal and then it’s the last area I apply SH, and the first thing I do is rinse the deck once I switch to water.
I ended up doing a test spot with 1400psi fan…the stain was fine. She liked it so much she had me do the whole deck.
Did you just use pressure?
Yup, no bleach or chems. It was just a light green coating on most boards, her deck backs up to woods and is fairly shaded.
