Fun fact: wood should not be grey. Mold and mildew prematurely age and damage the wood on your fences and decks. Before applying stains, sealers and protectants, it’s important to clean and prep the wood properly for a beautiful, lasting finish. Lady Bird Softwash offers wood renewal/cleaning, stain stripping/removal and wood staining using only the highest quality products and stains.
Proper preparation makes all the difference.
Removing the mold, mildew and algae is key to a lasting beautiful stained finish. These common environmental pollutants block the stain and sealer from penetrating and preserving the wood thus shortening the structural lifespan of your fence and deck. Also, it’s ugly. Have you ever noticed pickets on a fence being wildly different colors, or gray, hazy patches where it appears the stain never adhered? The most likely culprit was poor or nonexistent surface preparation and that’s where a lot of professionals and DIYers fail.
I have a power washer in my garage, I’ll just use that.
Should you power wash your wood structures? In most cases, no. It is not a good idea to power wash a fence or deck before staining it. Here is why:
- Power washers force the mold and mildew deeper into the wood pickets, causing the wood to deteriorate quicker.
- Power washing at high speeds can also blast away the soft fibers of the wood. This is where the softwood along the edges wash away leaving a scraggly, toothpick appearance. The leftover, harder wood fibers don’t accept the stain as uniformly.
- Power washing a fence or deck can create divots on the surface of the wood. As those divots are stained, the pigment gathers in the deep areas and highlights the unnatural lines and leaves an uneven finish.
For wood restoration and cleaning, try softwash.
A softwash is a mixture of water and algaecides that kill the mold and mildew on the surface. It also penetrates into the wood fibers to kill the environmental pollutants deep within the wood without damaging the surface. After a thorough softwash, and letting the wood dry to the proper humidity levels, your fence or deck is ready for stain.
Lady Bird Softwash offers wood restoration, cleaning, stain stripping and removal, and wood staining using only the highest quality products and stains. Whether you just want the wood prepped and cleaned and want to DIY the staining yourself, or you would like us to handle the project from start to finish, we are happy to help!
Do you have wood that needs restoration? Or a fence or deck that needs staining? Contact us and lets discuss your project needs.
Lady Bird Softwash 