Maintaining your deck is an important part of ensuring that your deck lasts for many years. As the temperatures continue to drop here in Omaha, it’s time to think about doing important winter deck maintenance and preparation work. This will help you maintain the quality of your deck throughout the winter. Here are a few steps you should take now to help keep your deck sturdy and usable through months of wind, cold, rain, and snow.
Clean It Up
Bring anything you don’t want to be damaged during the winter into your garage, basement, or other storage areas. If you have planters, chairs, umbrellas, or grills sitting on your deck, now is the time to move them inside. Move furnishings and other items from your deck to a safe place for the winter. Then give your deck a thorough sweep and remove any natural debris or trash that may have piled up throughout the fall months. This will ensure the least amount of moisture is trapped on your deck throughout this season.
Wash it Down
It’s not just enough to pick up around your deck. Giving your deck a thorough washing before the winter chill sets in will help keep your deck free from anything that will cause damage. Small amounts of debris can cause abrasions to your decks surface, and mildew will spread through the wet winter months and can cause serious damage.
Check for Defects
If your deck has any major repair needs, you should check for those now before winter truly sets in. If you need maintenance, you may not need to wait until summer to get it. Check out our list of deck maintenance tasks you can get done in the winter to see what you can fix now before it gets worse.
Shovel the Snow
While tedious, it is important to shovel the snow off your deck throughout the winter months. Use a rubber-tipped shovel (not a steel-tipped shovel) along the grain of the wood. This prevents damage to the deck’s finish. Doing this frequently prevents accumulation. If you have a dusting of snow, consider using a broom instead of a shovel to remove the snow. Avoid salting your deck if possible, as it can ruin the finish of your deck and corrode the fasteners and other metal parts.
The wintertime brings the joy of the holiday season and the upkeep of our home’s exterior. This includes the decks we love to utilize during the warmer, dryer months. Take these few steps of winter deck maintenance and preparation now and, come spring, you’ll enjoy a problem-free deck with little or no maintenance needed.
If you live in the Omaha area and all this sounds like a lot of work that you’d rather not do out in the cold, we are your Year-Round Deck Company. We’ll come out and do whatever is needed to make sure your deck can handle all the effects of winter. Reach out today.
