Wooden decking always looks mesmerising and gives a very royal look. But a misappropriation on type finish to the cedar decking can ruin the entire look. Well, ones you are done with fishing the planks, your next job is applying the finishing coat to it.
The most common problem that people face while finishing the deck is peeling and blistering if the surface was at cleaned, dried or organised correctly. So you must note that to get a perfect finish to your wooden deck. There is this one more thing you must heed to remember, never powerwash the deck; it will damage the wood making it weak.
The Western Red Cedar Decking is an exquisite piece of work, and you must carefully carry out the finishing to impart it the royal look. Here you must know two things, one, if you are using the factory, made decking, they already come with the finished look, and you don’t need to do finishing again. But if you are doing it yourself, then the first thing to do to the wooden planks before fixing them is applying the stain coat. Now, remember that the stain coating has to be done on all the six sides of the plank.
If you are not sure about how to do it, I have detailed everything here in two simple steps. Follow the instructions carefully to get a perfect finish to the deck.
Step 1 – Applying stain and water resistant transparent preservative
Start applying the water-repellent coat to the wood planks using the brush, sprayer roller or pad. You must not forget to brush in the wood grain direction after every application of the clear coat.
The entire application process is repeated until the time the wood plank refuses to absorb any more. This point of saturation of wood is called the refusal point. You must always try to apply coats till this point. Maximum coating helps to protect the wood making it durable and full of sheen.
Water repellent application makes your wood last longer, but you must not forget to apply some right amount at the end wood-grain of the wooden board.
Fitting of the board such as the nails, Screw and screw crack and holes must be treated with a water-resistant coat as well to protect them from rusting and damaging the wood.
The oil-based solvent borne formulas of a water-resistant coating are always preferred. Here you can find more information on finishing decking by yourself.
Step 2 – Applying semi-transparent coating
Now, this step must be performed very carefully because it is not transparent, it’s either wood polish colour or natural wood brown so avoiding lap marks becomes essential.
Begin this step by applying the semi-transparent stain coat using brush or roller, follow each layer by considering a liberal amount utilising a bush in the direction of woods grain.
Apply the coat to the full length of the board in one stroke.do not try to use more planks to finish the coating quickly, lap marks on wood don’t look right. Doing one plank at a time is best, but you can use two or three planks depending on their size.
Remember, I told to avoid lap marks, well you can also prevent lap marks by working in the shade which helps in reducing the drying rate, and you can finish the coating correctly when stain dries slower.
Here the ‘refusal’ does not work in favour of wood. Instead, never apply the semi-transparent coat to the max and not enough that wood can’t absorb. If you apply access coating, it will not get absorbed but dry out as a shiny patch on the wood that wouldn’t look good. Don’t forget to use the coat on the nail holes, screw marks and any cracks and end grains.
A good quality semi-transparent coating will always contain mild level coating, so you must always look for it while buying.
Well, this completes your job. Wasn’t it simple! Well absolutely. There are. So many more thing you can do with your living space or practice to make it look more entertaining and appealing along with a cedar decking.
Use some cool DIY ideas to create masterpieces to add grace to the deck like a bench or a rocking chair. Wooden cedar planks can also be used to make dining tops for the garden to enjoy family dinner during summers.
