Deck Restoration Guide: Restoring Weathered Decks to Their Former Glory

My parents' porch is around twenty years old. It's been stained multiple times and has seen better days. They've replaced boards with nonmatching colors, the weather had caused many to crack, it was a splinter hazard, and it certainly wasn't a beautiful porch that complimented their brand new outdoor furniture. Many boards were covered in green algae-like stains and the entire thing needed to be cleaned and restored.

We decided to use Behr Textured DeckOver to restore their porch. When I was done the deck has a nice bumpy texture that made it like a bathroom slip-resistant mat. The porch is entirely waterproofed and has a beautiful dark chocolate color. The entire process took two coats and less than three hours of work. In the summer heat, with drying time, the porch was ready to be sat on in about five hours total.

Before you're able to start applying the DeckOver you have to make sure your surface is clean and dry. In this project I personally used Olympic Deck Cleaner, using a bucket with equal parts cleaner to water. In all honesty, you could simply use dawn dish soap and water as long as you get the deck very clean, rinse all residual soap off, and allow the surface to dry fully. We purchased a firm bristled push brush, similar to a push broom, and used that instead of scrubbing by hand on all fours.

To start, fill your bucket with your cleaning solution of choice and dip your brush. Scrub over your deck with firm pressure, rinsing afterward. Check for any residual marks, gunk, or dirt that you missed and then repeat the process. Once done, allow the porch or deck to dry completely. Depending on the season this could take awhile. Make sure to feel the wood because even if it looks dry the wood could still be damp. Once the deck is entirely dry you can begin to fill the cracks in the wood.

Once your deck is dried you can begin to fill the cracks in your boards. The reason you don't begin to simply paint right away is that the DeckOver acts as a filler as well as a painted coating. The consistency of Behr DeckOver is like pudding. If you take a brush and simply dab a glob or two of DeckOver into the cracks, then you can brush back and forth and work it in. Once the crack disappears you're good to let it dry. The cracks should look as if they've never existed. You can see a demonstration in my video below.

Once you've spot checked your boards and allowed them you dry you can start to apply your DeckOver with a roller. Since I used the textured version of DeckOver, it holds the shape of the roller better. My roller was similar to a netting or tight coils of line. It left a non-slip type of consistency on the deck. When you apply this with your roller you should go in one direction and apply pressure to push the paint on rather than roll it. If you roll it back and forth like paint it can break down the textures you've made and leave a less extreme consistency that you want. Do this and coat your surface well and then repeat the process with a second coat. Allow your deck to dry and you should have a brand new waterproofed deck.

In conclusion, the Behr DeckOver is a great product that made restoring my parents' porch incredibly simple. The process took under three hours of work and about five hours total with drying time. It was as simple as filling cracks and rolling. The porch was a beautiful color, it's slip-resistant because of the texturing, and it's waterproofed. Their porch looks brand new and it's nice enough to have their nice furniture on now. I'll be using this product on all of my future restorations.