Deck Coating 101: What You Need To Know

While a deck can enhance the look of your yard and allow you to maximize the use of your outdoor space, some maintenance is necessary to ensure that your deck stays structurally sound and looks its best. Deck coating can preserve and protect your deck, and we can provide you with quality deck coating services. Here’s a look at what deck coating entails, and how to keep your deck in the best shape possible.

What Is Deck Coating?

Deck coating or deck waterproofing involves coating your decking materials with protective chemicals. These chemicals help prevent damage from rain, UV rays, spills and other debris that potentially could damage your deck.

At Thome Waterproofing, we can provide deck coating services for any type of wood-frame or concrete deck as well as for balconies. We have a wide range of deck coating options, depending on the materials that were used to build your deck. We can use everything from Carlisle Coatings to Enduro-Kote XL to MiraSEAL and more.

When Do You Need Deck Coating Services?

In general, we recommend deck coating services about every two or three years. If you notice that water no longer beads up on the surface of your deck, this is a good indication that it is time to re-coat the deck. If you wait too long, you risk damaging the decking materials, and this can lead to costly repairs or even a full deck replacement if necessary.

With proper care, you may be able to stretch deck coating to last more than three years, but you do need to keep the deck as clean as possible. Wipe away spills quickly, sweep off debris and pressure wash the deck from time to time to keep the materials in tip-top shape. Still, weather and sunlight and general usage take their toll on your deck and the deck coating materials so eventually you will need to have new deck coating applied.

If you recently had a new wooden deck installed, such as a deck crafted from pressure-treated lumber, you will need to wait several months before you have deck coating or paint or stain applied to the wood. Pressure treated woods need time to dry or the coatings may not adhere to the wood properly and you’ll wind up with a mess on your hands. In the meantime, get out there and sweep off debris and keep the deck as clean as possible as the wood dries out.

Can You Do It Yourself?

While deck coating can be a DIY project, we usually don’t recommend it for several reasons. Most importantly, hiring a professional ensures that the decking, whether it be wood, composite, concrete, or another material, is coated properly. We also save you a ton of time and hard work, because cleaning, prepping, repairing and coating a deck are all arduous tasks and most homeowners don’t have the time or inclination to take on a project of that magnitude.

We begin by inspecting the deck, cleaning the deck carefully and making any necessary repairs. With wood decks, we look for signs of termite damage, mold, dry rot, loose boards and so forth. If repairs need to be made, we complete this work prior to applying the deck coating.

With concrete decking, we begin by cleaning the concrete carefully and we use special cleaners for this process to help remove dirt, debris and stains. It’s important to note that some of these cleaners can damage pool tile, so we take extra care around your pool, spa or other water features as well as keeping plants safe from the cleaners. When we apply the coating, we also can cover up the tile with plastic to ensure that the coating materials do not damage your tile or coping.

Keep in mind, another reason to hire a professional is that we already have all of the equipment needed to complete the job. As a homeowner, you would have to invest in a number of supplies in order to handle deck coating on your own and while some items can be used again, you would have store equipment that you might only be using every two or three years.

Decorative Coatings

While concrete deck coatings provide a high level of protection for your concrete, we also offer decorative coating services. We can transform your ordinary concrete into a thing of beauty. We can add decorative coatings to pool decks, first-floor walkways, patios, driveways and other concrete on-grade locations in which waterproofing is not required.

Residential & Commercial Deck Coating

We can handle a wide range of deck coating tasks for individual homeowners or commercial properties. For homeowners, we can provide you with deck coating services for your concrete pool deck as well as wooden decks and balconies. We also can provide you with repairs.

For commercial customers, we can provide deck coating services for wooden decks and balconies as well as concrete pool decking and concrete walkways throughout your property. Concrete coating services not only protect the concrete materials but also improve the look of your property, whether it is an apartment community, an office building, a medical facility or another type of commercial property.

We have extensive experience using many different types of deck coating materials and deck coating processes. Thome Waterproofing also is licensed, bonded and insured and we use a permanent team of experienced employees. Not all waterproofing companies are equal, and many waterproofing contractors and deck coating companies use temporary employees, and the end result tends to be much lower in quality than what you get with an experienced team.

If you need deck coating services, don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team at Thome Waterproofing today. In addition to deck coating and decorative coatings, our waterproofing company can provide an assortment of waterproofing services, including below-grade waterproofing and planter waterproofing. We serve the greater Los Angeles area including all of Los Angeles County and Ventura County.