For most people, their deck and patio is their most favorite place to be. It does not matter whether you have a small enough deck that you can only place a couple chairs, or if you have a deck that is large enough to hold an entire family reunion. You will love spending time on it, as long as it looks the way you wanted it to when it was built. However, to ensure your deck stays beautiful, you will have to handle some very important, perhaps not so fun, maintenance. This involves waterproofing, staining, cleaning, and various other not so enjoyable tasks. The good news is, you can easily learn how to clean your deck or patio, as long as you have the right tools for the job, and it can also take some of the “work” out of doing so.

Preparing to Clean

This part of the cleaning process is not always easy. It depends on what you may have on your deck or patio area, what type of cleaning tools you plan to use, and what the area is made of. If you have a dog or a cat who enjoys laying on your patio, you may also need to find a way to keep him off of the area while you are washing it down. Otherwise, they could easily mistake the detergent filled water for pure water and get sick or, if you are using a powerful pressure washer, your beloved pet could decide that a game of chase the water is fun and get hurt by it. You will also want to remove any furniture you may have in that area as well as any other items that may get damaged when you are washing, including plants that may be sensitive to the chemical detergents if you are using them. If you are unable to move your plants, you may want to reconsider your detergent or figure out a way to block that area from getting a lot of runoff water.

What You Need

The items you will need, depend greatly on whether you are choosing to scrub your deck the hard way or if you have a 3000 PSI electric pressure washer within easy reach, and what your deck is made of. If you have a concrete patio, you will have to worry less about what it is made of, whereas if you have a wooden deck that is made of a soft wood that is easily damaged, you have to do a little trial and error.

If you are choosing the hard way of doing things, you will need scrub brushes, your water hose, a bucket for detergent, a water nozzle for your garden hose, and perhaps knee pads to protect your knees from getting sore. This is because if you live in a very dusty or pollen filled area, you may spend a lot of time on your knees scrubbing at those tough to clean areas.