Frequently Asked Questions

Our product is a commercial grade, oil base, 100% penetrating oil preservative. Most retail products penetrate into the wood to some degree, but almost all leave a hard or waxy coating on the surface of the wood. All exterior wood, even sealed wood expands and contracts as humidity levels vary. This constant expansion and contraction will cause hard coatings to develop hair line cracks within a few months as hard coatings do not have the flexibility needed to expand and contract with the wood. The hair line cracks allow moisture to penetrate into the wood in the area of the crack, thus causing further wood expansion and additional coating failure. Waxy coatings have the flexibility to expand and contract with the wood, but usually do not last more than a year or two. Our commercial grade penetrating oils penetrate completely into the pores of the wood without leaving a top coat on the wood surfaces. Our oils allow the wood to breathe and will expand and contract with the wood. Our oil preservatives also penetrate deep into any existing cracks in the wood, unlike most retail products, providing a breathable moisture barrier while re-hydrating the wood and greatly reducing further cracking, splitting, cupping and warping. Our commercial grade preservatives will last two to three times longer than retail products and come with a three year warranty on decks, a seven year warranty on fences and wood siding, and a ten year warranty on cedar shake roofs. Warranty is for tint retention, mold/mildew inhibition and wood preservation.

Yes, our preservative is available in seven different transparent tones from a light natural tone to a dark rich chocolate brown. The transparent tones provide a beautiful tint to the wood without covering the natural wood grain. As our preservatives penetrate deep beneath the wood surface they pull the tint deep below the surface. (We also offer a semi-transparent gray tone).

We apply our preservative as recommended by the manufacturer, which requires saturating the wood. The oil will slowly penetrate into the wood, and as it does the tint will lighten approximately 50% within 24-48 hours after application. It will continue to lighten over the next 4-6 weeks. The penetrating oil will penetrate deep enough into the wood within 24 hours for the wood to be dry, yet will continue to penetrate even deeper and thus the color will lighten over the next 4-6 weeks as it penetrates deeper.

Our product is commercial grade and not available to the consumer market. Consumer reports only rates products that are available to the consumer.

We will detail power-wash the entire deck. This will remove dirt, mold, mildew, mill glaze and some previously applied sealants. In some cases we may need to strip the wood in order to remove old sealants from the surface. Your deck must be void of all dirt, mold, mildew, mill glaze, and old sealants or coatings, and the wood must be completely dry before it can be sealed.

We will first apply the appropriate stripper to remove the existing coating, and then allow the stripper to dwell on the wood for a period of time depending on several factors. These include the type and condition of the existing coating, the type of stripper used, current temperature, and humidity. Once the stripper has properly softened the existing coating, we then power wash to remove both the stripper and the existing coating, exposing the bare wood. Most products are removed with one attempt; however, in some cases this process may need to be repeated for more difficult or multi-layered finishes. This is not an easy process and requires detail, patience, and knowledge of wood products, coatings and strippers. Our staff is trained by certified professionals in the wood care industry.

Because our product is a penetrating oil preservative and soaks into the wood it does not evaporate during application as water and most solvent based products do. Once applied the product will continue to penetrate deep into the pores of the wood for several weeks. You can however walk on the deck within a few hours without harming the finish. In most cases, you can put your patio furniture back onto your deck within 24 hours. Enclosed areas such as screened porches may require 48 hours. During application, the tone will be much darker than the tone you chose. The tone will lighten approximately 50% during the first 24-48 hours after application. Time is dependent upon the wood type, porosity, surface temperature and exposure to the sunlight. The tone will continue to lighten another 50% over the next 4-6 weeks.

A contractor may advise you to wait because pressure treated lumber is impregnated with a liquid after milling. This liquid requires a year to completely dry out of the wood. After this time, your wood will be able to completely soak up our penetrating oil. We advise waiting six months to a year after construction to preserve it depending on what time of the year your deck was built. If your deck or fence is built out of lumber types other than pressure treated, such as cedar or redwood, we recommend preserving immediately after construction to provide extended life to your investment.

No, we will contact you at least one day prior to our arrival so you will know to expect us, and to confirm that our arrival does not conflict with your schedule or other contractor’s who may be present. We ask that you have available to our technicians an outside power source and water access for our equipment. In early spring and late fall you may need to turn your exterior water supply on if it has been turned off for the season.

Usually about three days. We will power-wash on day one. We must allow the wood to dry for at least 24 hours before application of the preservative; day two will be a drying day. We strive to come back to preserve the wood usually 24-48 hours after cleaning depending on how prior weather conditions have affected our work schedule. The total process may take 2-4 days. Power-wash and (strip if necessary) & clean on day one, day two is a drying day, day three we apply the preservative, 24 hours after preservative application the deck is ready for use. If you have a sprinkler system on a night timer you may need to turn it off until the deck is treated to avoid delay in the drying process.

No, because of weather uncertainty we sometimes have to make last minute schedule changes and thus do not want you to have to worry about moving and replacing your furniture. Our technicians will remove furniture and grills from your deck when they come to power-wash. Some assistance may be required if you have unusually large or heavy items. If your deck has an unusually large amount of furniture or potted plants, etc. We may request you to remove them prior to our arrival or we can remove these items for an additional charge.

Once you decide to have us do your project, we ask that you to sign the quote and return it to us with a check for 25% of the estimated cost. This will reserve your place on our schedule. After all work is completed we will give you an invoice for the balance. We have many customers pay their deposit in the fall to reserve their project for the early spring schedule. This is highly recommended due to the high volume of orders that come in when spring begins.

The cost of lumber has increased over the last few years. The average cost of building a deck is approximately $10.00-$13.00 per square foot, power-washing & preserving is usually only about $1.00 - $1.50 per square foot. Not only does a deck add an area for relaxation and entertaining but it also adds value to your home. Like any other home improvement, your deck is an investment. With proper care, your investment can last 2-3 times longer than without proper care.

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