My neighbor swore by pressure washing deck boards before staining, now I'm not sure he was right

I've got a 12 year old cedar deck in my backyard in Columbus and last spring I finally got around to refinishing it. My neighbor Mike, who's been building decks for 25 years, told me I had to pressure wash the wood first to open up the grain. So I borrowed his machine, ran it on medium, and blasted the whole thing. Looked clean as a whistle. But six months later the stain is peeling off in big flakes, especially on the vertical rails. Now another guy at the lumber yard told me pressure washing forces water deep into the wood and then the stain can't bond right. He said I should have just used a deck cleaner and a stiff brush. So which is it? Has anyone else gotten conflicting advice on prepping deck wood? Did Mike steer me wrong or did I just mess up the pressure setting?

2 comments

2 Comments

wyatt_mitchell261mo ago

Did you use the right tip on the pressure washer? I made the same mistake on my fence a few years back, used a narrow tip thinking it would save time, and ended up with the exact same peeling problem you're describing.

stone.lisa1mo agoTop Commenter

Oh yeah, nothing says "fun weekend" like accidentally sandblasting your own fence with a 0-degree tip.