Deck maintenance: a season-by-season guide
Spring: inspect before you use it
Before the first backyard season of the year, walk the deck and check the basics: loose or popped fasteners, any boards that feel soft or spongy underfoot, railings that wiggle, and the ledger board where the deck meets the house — that connection takes the most stress and is worth a close look. Small issues are cheap fixes in spring; the same issues left through a summer of use get worse.
Cleaning
A deck brush, mild deck cleaner, and a garden hose handle most seasonal grime. If you use a pressure washer, keep it on a low setting and hold the nozzle at a consistent distance and angle — too much pressure gouges soft wood and can strip finish unevenly, which shows once you re-stain.
Staining and sealing schedule
In Southern Ontario's sun and freeze-thaw cycles, most stained or sealed wood decks need refinishing every 2 to 3 years — sooner on decks that get full sun most of the day, since UV breaks down finish faster than moisture does. The simple test: sprinkle a little water on the boards. If it beads up, the finish is still protecting the wood. If it soaks in, it's time to refinish.
Composite decks
Composite boards don't need staining, but they aren't zero-maintenance — a seasonal wash with soap and water keeps mildew and pollen stains from setting in, and it's worth checking the fastening hardware on the same schedule as a wood deck.
Fall and winter prep
Clear leaves and debris before they trap moisture against the boards — that's one of the fastest ways to encourage rot and mildew going into winter. Snow can generally be left to melt naturally or cleared with a plastic shovel; avoid metal edges and de-icing salts, which can damage both wood and composite surfaces.
When it's more than maintenance
Soft or rotted boards, a railing that's more than a little loose, or any movement at the ledger board are structural, not cosmetic — worth having looked at rather than just refinishing over. If you're not sure which category something falls into, we're happy to take a look.