How to Care for Your Deck After A Snow

As the Deck Guru, After a snow storm, I get two questions:

How does snow affect your deck?

Snow is the worst short term weather event to your deck (except meteors.) Melting little by little in the day, then freezing at night, over and over.

It affects your deck because, as the water seeps into cracks in your wood at night those cracks expand and when it freezes thus prying your wood apart like a crowbar used  to demo everything in sight on a HGTV show causing deeper, longer, permanent cracks.

What do I need to do to keep my deck protected?

If your deck has been sealed in the last year or stained within the last 1-3 years you should be ok.

How can you be sure?

Most stains now are films that sit on the wood surface (like a paint), if you see them they are protecting your wood, if you don’t then your wood is unprotected. It’s that easy.

After A snow storm has finished I utilize a two-step process.

1. I shovel my deck. Leave about an inch of snow on the deck surface. You do this because you don’t want to scratch or gouge the deck with the shovel. If you scratch or remove the stain you are leaving your deck unprotected.
2. I sweep my deck with a push broom or any broom. This ensures most the snow is removed from your deck surface and it will not melt leaking water into your deck, freeze causing deeper longer cracks and expensive repairs.