Deck Mold

Spring is the right time to clean your decking and railing. Keep in mind, when you build a deck with composite decking and railing, you get years of relaxing, carefree use when compared to traditional lumber decking. There’s no stripping, painting, sealing or staining necessary. Of course, thanks to nature, no product is maintenance free. But with Latitudes decking, a simple, occasional cleaning will prevent the buildup of dirt and chalk—as well as pollen and other debris that cause and accelerate the growth of mold or mildew.

When it’s time to clean your Latitudes composite deck, here are some easy-to-follow guidelines for great results. If you use a pressure washer, use a fan-style tip—and only use the washer to wet down or rinse your deck. Avoid high-pressure blasting that literally can drive dirt and spores deeper into the composite decking surface.

Typically, you can clean your deck with soap, water and a scrub bush or use a high-quality cleaner available at your home-improvement center. Most cleaners contain Sodium Percarbonate and a detergent. These types of cleaners are very effective in removing dirt while bleaching out mold and mildew stains—simply follow the label directions.

When you find stains, there are simple ways to deal with them. For rust stains caused by metal furniture and other sources, look for a deck cleaner containing oxalic acid. To wash away grease and oil stains, use any standard commercial degreaser. Typically, these will contain propylene glycol, sodium hydroxide and detergents.

If your deck has a stubborn grease or oil stain, try a small amount of spot remover or paint thinner. But use it sparingly and wash it away quickly. These products usually contain organic solvents that can attack the grain pattern in your composite deck. Whatever you use to clean your synthetic decking and railing, always perform a test in an inconspicuous area before you use it on the entire surface. Always be certain to read, understand and follow all label instructions.

Some cleaning products and inhibitors may be more effective than others, depending on your environmental conditions. And remember, the best way to manage stains—is not to have them occur. Always try to deal with spills before they have a chance to set-up.

Remember, that while mold and mildew can reappear on any exterior building surface, there are ways to manage them effectively on composite decking. Above all, sit back, relax and enjoy your low-maintenance, high-reward Latitudes composite lumber decking and railing. See additional tips for preventing mold and mildew from my past blog. Also watch our deck cleaning video.

After the leaves have fallen on and around your deck, consider giving your composite wood deck or pressure treated deck a thorough cleaning, especially in colder climates where snow could deter your decision to maintain your decking and outdoor living area. Cleaning your deck late in the year is always a good idea as it helps prevent the buildup of mold and mildew on the deck surface. By making sure all leaves and debris are swept off the deck surface before snow accumulates, your spring cleaning will be much easier.

It's important to clean bird droppings and common spills that happen throughout the deck season. You don't want these cleanable mishaps to turn into stains on your composite or lumber deck because they remained on the surface too long.

Scrub and rinse your deck
Start cleaning your composite decking or pressure treated decking by scrubbing the surface with soapy water. Start at the top of the deck railings and work your way down to the deck surface. It's necessary to remove the dirt and debris that accumulates on the composite deck surface. This will also prevent the build-up of pollen that can cause mold and mildew growth. Pressure washers should only be used at lower pressures to wet and rinse synthetic decking and railing. For ground-in soil you'll need to apply a detergent, scrub the deck surface with a course bristle brush and rinse thoroughly with water.

Apply a quality deck cleaner to the surface
Deck cleaners usually contain sodium percarbonate and a detergent, which is effective on normal dirt and grime and helps bleach out mold and mildew stains. Oxalic acid cleaners are effective on rust stains from metal patio furniture.

Watch our cleaning video or read care and cleaning instructions for Latitudes composite decking. For pressure treated decking, read our general maintenance guide (PDF).

Making your home the hub for fun and entertainment can be as easy as creating the space and inviting folks in. But it’s important to make sure your outdoor living spaces are as safe as they are fun. If you already have a deck, give it a thorough spring checkup. See if you have any loose railings or balusters, and inspect the structure of your deck for rotting wood, corroded or loose fasteners and any mold and mildew.

If you find that your deck needs repairs, consider updating it with new composite decking and railing. Latitudes, a leading composite decking brand, offers several unique decking and railing combinations, each offering superior strength and resistance against the rotting, fading and warping that typically occur with wood due to varying weather cycles.

Low-maintenance composite decking never requires staining or sanding, and is available in several natural-looking colors. Latitudes Capricorn composite decking offers the rich look of tropical hardwood. From a safety standpoint, all of the deck surfaces are slip-resistant and splinter-free—definitely a consideration when you’re designing a space to entertain.

Are you planning to build a new deck this year? Before you begin construction, think carefully about how you’re going to use your deck. Create a space for an outdoor kitchen or barbecue area, and perhaps a place for relaxing and keeping an eye on the kids. You might even want to consider a place for dining.

You could also consider installing deck stones by Latitudes. Use these self-draining, real stone tiles to create a fire or grease barrier under your grill. You can also use these stones if incorporating a fire pit into your deck plans—making it a favorite hangout for teens and late-night marshmallow roasting.

When safety is paramount, be sure to plan for lighting. There are many new products that provide direct or ambient lighting to help make your deck and outdoor living area safer for you and your guests, even late into the night. Latitudes and Deckorators both offer low-voltage, LED recessed deck lights, which can be set to turn on automatically at dusk, adding a measure of security to your home.

Deck lighting using eco friendly solar lighted post caps come in styles ranging from the basic to the dramatic. The new Dynasty copper post cap light offers Asian flair in a Craftsman-inspired copper and gunmetal that offers illumination and high style. Post cap lights are designed to fit on virtually any railing post on your deck. And with solar caps, no wiring is required.

If your existing deck simply needs to be refreshed—or needs sturdier rails to make it safe—the easiest way to update is with new balusters or rails. Deckorators offers a durable, powder-coated aluminum exterior railing system that is sold in kits, complete with rails, post sleeves and post caps to help put a whole new face on a tired-looking deck.

This deck building season, consider spending some of your home improvement dollars on the safety of your deck and the outdoor living areas of your home. These entertainment spots not only beckon to friends and neighbors, but add safety and value to your home.

Getting ready for the outdoor entertaining season means picking up after Old Man Winter. He can be rather untidy, so here’s how to get your treated lumber or composite lumber decking and railings back into mid-season form.

First, you’ll want to take some soapy water to all of that accumulated dirt and chalking. Start at the top surfaces and work down. If you’re using a power washer, use the low setting (high-powered blasting usually drives dirt deeper into the surface). Then go back over the surfaces with a good, general purpose deck cleaner making sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions. Use chemical spot removers sparingly on heavily soiled areas, and be sure to rinse them off quickly.

Different types of stains require different cleaners. For these and other essential facts, click through here for the whole story.

See how well Latitudes Capricorn® composite decking sheds stains with an enlightening mess test video.

Check out my other blog posts on deck care and cleaning:

• How to clean and maintain composite decking and railing
• Simple steps for cleaning a wood deck
• Preventing mold and mildew growth on composite decking

Spring is the start of the outdoor living season when homeowners begin to get their deck or patio ready for outdoor entertaining. Here are some general tips for cleaning your composite deck along with types of cleaning agents best suited for washing composite decking materials.

Wash and rinse your deck
Start cleaning your composite decking by washing with soapy water. Start at the top of the deck railing and work your way down to the composite deck surface. It's necessary to remove the dirt and chalking that accumulates on the composite deck surface. This will also prevent the build-up of pollen and debris that can cause mold and mildew growth. Pressure washers should only be used at lower pressures to wet and rinse synthetic decking and railing. Pressure washers should not be used to “blast-off” soiling agents; attempting to do so can drive the dirt deeper into the decking material. Test on an inconspicuous area before washing the entire deck.

Basic deck cleaning agents
Deck wash / cleaners usually contain sodium percarbonate and a detergent, which is effective on normal dirt and grime and bleaches out mold and mildew stains. Oxalic acid cleaners are effective on rust stains from metal patio furniture. Commercial degreasers contain propylene glycol, sodium hydroxide, and various detergents for removing grease and oil stains.

When cleaning composite decking, spot removers can be used sparingly on those stubborn grease or oil stains but should be washed off quickly with water, as it will attack the grain pattern. They normally include petroleum distillates, xylene, methanol, acetone, or other organic solvents.

Mold and mildew can be a nuisance on any exterior building surface, regardless of the material. If the conditions are right, they will spawn on wood, plastic, concrete, metal and other surfaces. Mold formation is most prevalent in consistently wet, shaded areas. Spores from the natural environment are carried by the wind and commonly land on decks surfaces. It is important to note that the appearance of mold and mildew is a function of nature, not necessarily a deficiency with any of the material on which it grows.

Deck Cleaning
Periodic washing with soap/detergent and water will help remove surface dirt. This will also help prevent the buildup of pollen, debris and spores that can cause and accelerate mold/mildew growth (it also helps to remove deck mold). Caution: A pressure washer should not be used to “blast” mold/mildew or soils from a deck surface. The abrasive nature of the water stream can potentially damage the material by driving the spores into the material, which may create a morechallenging problem to remediate. A pressure washer with a fan-tipped nozzle should be used only to lightly wet or rinse wood or composite deck surfaces. 

There are many deck wash and exterior cleaning products available at retail. It is important to make sure you use a cleaner specifically intended for your application. After selecting a product, be certain to read, understand and follow all instructions supplied by the manufacturer. Some cleaning products and inhibitors may be more effective than others, depending on the environmental conditions your deck is subjected to. Additionally, it is always a good idea to test the cleaner in a small, inconspicuous area prior to applying it to the entire deck.

Mold Inhibitors
As with deck washes, there are several mold-inhibitor products available from paint stores, hardware stores, online outlets and home centers to help prevent long-term mold/mildew growth. For any product selected, be certain to read, understand and follow all instructions provided by the manufacturer. Depending upon the environmental factors affecting your composite lumber or treated wood deck, some preventive cleaning products may be more effective than others. It may be necessary to try more than one product. For ongoing preventive maintenance, follow the manufacturer’s recommendation.

We are seeing some real innovation with wood treatments these days; whether it’s wood for decking, siding, or part of the structural frame. At the root of this topic is the fact that, when left untreated or when unprotected, wood can rot. Even premium species like cedar and redwood—which are naturally decay- and rot-resistant—require treatment to extend their useful lives.

Today’s wood treatments range widely from chemical treatments to heat treatments (a.k.a. “thermally modified wood”). And if you are looking for the green angle here, the simple fact that wood treatments can dramatically extend the life of the wood is a very “green” attribute indeed—in a life cycle analysis, it lowers the environmental costs of re-harvesting (and re-treating, and re-shipping and re-installing) replacement wood products. However, each wood treatment method has its merits, and each one has features that can make it more or less green. Let’s take a closer look by first reviewing a brief history of wood treatment.

Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA)
For a long time, Chromated Copper Arsenate, or “CCA” was the formula for treating lumber. For decades, it was common to see “green” CCA decks – the green was the color of the oxidized copper. And CCA-treated wood was also commonly used in most ground-contact situations. In the ‘90’s new alternatives to CCA were introduced. None took meaningful market share from CCA because none could match its performance and value. As the millennium approached, there was increased scrutiny regarding the perceived safety of CCA as reported by various “consumer advocate” reporters and environmental organizations. In 2003, treaters voluntarily stopped using CCA for residential applications and newer, more expensive formulations replaced CCA. One bright spot that emerged from the demise of CCA was that the pace of innovation in preservative development quickened.

Alkaline Copper (ACQ) & Copper Azole (CA-B)
The replacement wood preservative treatments were ACQ and CA-B. Let’s first look at ACQ.  ACQ is a treatment consisting of alkaline copper, a fungicide, and quaternary ammonia (sometimes called quat), which serves as an insecticide. On the other hand, CA-B is a treatment containing mostly copper and azole; the azole is a fungicide that appears in various chemical forms. If you step back and take notice, there are two consistent elements in these approaches to wood treatment. One, they all are aimed at stopping rot, decay, fungus, and insects from getting to the wood.  And two, they all overwhelmingly contain copper, a natural, harmless wood preservative. As wood treatments have evolved, some wood treaters (and the chemical companies that license their formulas to these wood treaters) have stayed with copper. But they have eliminated other chemicals in their wood preservative formulations.

Micronized Copper (MCQ)
Among the most positive result was the recent introduction of a new micronized copper wood preservative. Developed by Osmose, Inc., and marketed as ProWood Micro (MCQ Treated Wood), the new process bonds microscopic copper particles to the wood cells. Because of this there is no need for a solvent (which is still used in most other non-micronized formulations) . These attributes have earned the ProWood Micro formulation Environmentally Preferrable Product (EPP) status from Scientific Certification Systems, a leading third party certification firm. This is the first and only such preservative to earn this recognition. To earn EPP certification, a product must demonstrate reduced impact on human health and the environment when compared to other products that serve the same purpose as measured by guidelines published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Non-metallic
There is another relatively new product out today that is offered by Arch Wood Protection. The treatment is Wolmanized L³ Outdoor wood. It contains no copper as part of the preservative and uses a proprietary non-metallic preservative.

Boric Acid
Yet another class of wood treatment is focused on boric acid, as well as its oxides and salts which are called borates. Boric acid is a very-effective wood preservative. Conveniently, it is toxic to insects, but it has low toxicity with humans. That said, the problem with boric acid has always been that it is water-soluble. That means it can be floated into wood with water-based pressure treatments or applied with surface applications. But the boric acid will eventually leach out of the wood. That leaching process is dramatically accelerated if the wood is exposed to the elements. All of this means that wood treated with borates isn’t generally good for ground contact, and in any application, it has to be re-treated repeatedly with borate applications to ensure that the wood is preserved. Now, because borates have gotten another look from consumers, due to the perceived toxicity of alternative wood treatments, borates have seen some innovative uses. One company floats borate deep into wood fiber by mixing it with glycol, a kind of alcohol. The glycol flashes off, leaving the borate behind, and until the borate leaches out, it is a good termiticide, insecticide, and wood preservative. But here too, the wood has to be re-treated regularly.

Thermally-Modified Wood (TMW)
Another kind of wood treatment that you see gaining wider acceptance is heat treatment. Wood that is treated with heat is generally referred to as thermally-modified wood or TMW. This treatment process contains no chemicals or additives at all.  Like its name says, the thermally-modified process uses high heat and steam to change the very nature of the wood. In fact, the thermal process removes the aspects of the wood that serve as food. With no insects, fungus, or mold attacking the wood, the thermally-modified process can prevent for rot and decay. Specifically, the process removes or de-natures the sugars in the wood, leaving behind aspects of the wood that cannot be digested by insects or eaten by fungus and mold. After the wood is thermally treated, it can be stained, sealed, joined, and glued like regular wood.

No matter what type of treated wood you seek, you should be aware of its code acceptance. Some treatments are not code compliant, even though they have been around for a number of years. To get code approval, preservative companies can either work with the American Wood Protection Association (AWPA) to have their treated wood listed in the AWPA Standards. Or the preservative company will work with the International Code Council (ICC) Evaluation Service to earn an Evaluation Service Report (ESR). Without the support of either an AWPA listing or an ESR, there is no guarantee that a local code will allow a product on the job where treated wood is required. So, check the fact sheet from the wood provider or the wood treater to see if the wood is approved for use.