Despite March’s rain Northern Virginia is still in a state of moderate drought. The silver lining is that many home’s wooden decks and trim are looking better than usual. “If you never had rain, wood would last five times as long,“ said Ken Barlow of Fairfax Station’s Barlow Cleaning Systems.
Many decking books warn drought can shrink clay in the soil causing the wood to warp as deck supports shift. However, in 15 years in the industry Barlow has not seen drought cause damage to decking.
“Moisture is the biggest cause of damage [to exposed wood],” said Barlow. A good indication of how the drought has been kind to wooden sidings, decks and roofing are the cedar roofs Barlow treats. “By now they [cedar roofs] would have normally turned green , but the roofs are not turning green.”
Though water damage may be at a minimum other exposed wood concerns, including sun damage, carpenter bees and arsenic leaching, remain.
Extreme heat and sun can damage a deck. “Most decks with southern exposures won’t last as a long,” said Barlow. But,“[it’s] UV rays that do damage,” said Barlow. “On a cloudy day there’s less UV damage to a deck.” A good example Barlow said was “If you have a mat on your deck. If you slide it out of the way the wood underneath is beautiful.”
ANOTHER POTENTIAL PROBLEM for homeowners with decks or wooden siding are carpenter bees. The carpenter bee looks much like a bumble bee except where bumble bees have a furry, often yellow, tail section, a carpenter bee’s back end is shiny black. While the bees may be a buzzing annoyance their real pest value is their manner of making they’re homes inside wood siding and decks. “Most of the times they [homeowners] don’t see the hole, they’ll see the orangish - brown droppings.”
“In this area carpenter bees are quite, quite common“ said Dave, an employee who deals with wooden decks and trim in the Fischer’s hardware store in Springfield.
“I notice it more with siding than with decks,” said Barlow. “I see it most commonly with cedar, but most people don’t use cedar. Barlow added “I’ve noticed freshly painted wood tends to keep them away.”
Another reason for homeowners to maintain their decks is to prevent arsenic from leaching out of the wood. “The big thing is the “salt treated” wood [in decks and other wood] is actually ... arsenic, CCA. They are phasing it out ... but in the meantime they [homeowners] want to seal their deck.”
CCA (CHROMATE COPPER ARSENATE is a wood preservative which has been widely used by the lumber industry as a preservative. Studies have shown painting or using an oil based stain will reduce the arsenic leaching from the wood. “Awareness has really picked up in the last 15 years,” said Barlow, “it’s a real thing out there now, people are getting sick from arsenic leaching out from the decking treatment.”
Those deciding to clean and seal or stain decks themselves should be careful if they use a power washer. “Most products recommend no more than 1000 psi,” said Fischer’s employee Dave. However power washers available for rental can eject water at pressures exceeding 3000 psi. “3000 psi can cut your leg off,” Barlow said, adding he knew a homeowner who had ended up with stitches because of a power washer accident.
Besides keeping the pressure low power washer user should need to select the right tip attachment. “All they have to do is select the right tip,” Barlow said, “a 15 degree can do damage and a zero degree can cause a lot of damage ... to the soft core of grain of the wood.”
With proper maintenance Barlow says you can get “25 years out of deck.”