If you’d rather salvage your old wooden deck rather than spring for the cost of a new one, you may want to consider trying one of the new super-thick 100 percent acrylic latex deck coatings designed specifically to restore, as well as refinish, weather-beaten wood.
Recently introduced as a means of rescuing endangered surfaces of all kinds, these new coatings actually fill in and help conceal cracks and crevices up to ¼-inch deep. They come in a wide range of colors and even create a slip-resistant finish that resists future cracking and peeling.
The products restore, but they can’t undo rot. Before you use them, you will have to replace any unstable or rotten boards and sand any surfaces where the wood is splintered, but otherwise sound.
How To Use It
Here’s what else you’ll have to do to get good results:
- Prepare the deck to take the paint by cleaning dirt, mildew and stains with a commercial deck cleaner or by power-washing the surface.
- Spot-fill nail holes or large cracks in the wood using a synthetic-bristle brush.
- Brush the coating into the spaces between boards, in tight corners and on the edges of the deck.
- Roll a generous, even coat on to the rest of the deck.
- Roll a second coat on if your deck is badly weather-beaten.
It Works On Other Surfaces
Once the surface of your deck is restored, you may be tempted to use a super-thick coating on other outdoor surfaces. In fact, many of these products can also be applied to porches and patios, pool decks and boat docks – and not just those made of wood, but on composite materials, and concrete, too.
Olympic has an online video that shows the prep steps you have to do before you apply its Rescue It! deck coating product.
