Wood Restoration in Adams, TN

Our wood restoration is a three step process for a complete restoration. If all you do is pressure wash and then stain you are missing an important step that will give you the full potential of your stain/sealer. If you skip one of these steps you will end up with a finish and fails prematurely.

The first step is either cleaning if no previous sealer was used on the wood. If the wood has been sealed before then the cleaning process is replaced with the stripping of the old sealer. This process removes the mold, mildew and algae from the wood surface along with any previous sealer if we are using the stripping method. Pressure washing alone will NOT kill the mold or algae spores that are imbedded into the wood fibers. It may look clean but you can not see the spores. The algae and mold will then grow back under the new finish.

The second step in preserving your exterior wood is to neutralize the cleaner or stripper that was used in step one. This returns the PH levels of the wood back to the proper levels and brightens the wood back to it's original color thus allowing proper adhesion of the stain. If you skip this step you will find that the wood will not accept the new finish as readily as it would with proper preparation.

The third and final step is to apply the stain or sealer of choice. You are now ready to enjoy your exterior wood for years to come.

Serving Clarksville, TN and all surrounding areas, The Cleaning Doctor has the cure for what ails your exterior wood surfaces. For more information on exterior wood preservation, deck staining and sealing or fence staining and sealing please visit our web site at www.thecleaningdoc.com or call us at 931-933-5421.

Wood Restoration or Preservation

I wanted to talk to you some about wood care. What is so special about wood care, you ask? Well without the proper procedures you can be wasting your hard earned money.

Have you ever purchased a product from the local box store, only to have it fail within a years time? It is not necessarily that these products are bad but the process of applying it is incorrect. Thus causing premature failure.

Without the proper protection from the elements your exterior wood will warp, bow, cup, split and just rot. This will result in hundreds if not thousands of dollars in wood replacement. Your deck is an extension of your home and a great place to enjoy and entertain.

Let's look at cleaning methods. You have wood that is greyed or black from mildew and now you want to restore your wood. Some so called professionals use a pressure washer alone to clean this off the wood surface. By itself the pressure washer is not a good choice. Even though you have cleaned the surface, mold and mildew spores remain in the wood fibers and when you apply a sealer over the top of these spores you will have mold or mildew growth under the finish and eventually causing the finish to fail.

Some professionals use bleach. Even some stain manufacturers tell you to use bleach or make a cleaner based on bleach as the main ingredient. This will work and it will kill the mold or mildew but at a price. The wood will end up being lighter than the original wood because it bleaches out the natural color of the wood. This will cause your stain to have a different look than you intended. Bleach is also used in the process of manufacturing paper to help break up the wood fibers. Why would you use this on a deck or fence?

Well what should my wood restoration professional use to clean my deck?

You can use various store bought cleaners but here are some guidelines. For stripping an old finish, the cleaner used should be a sodium hydroxide based cleaner. Fair warning this can cause chemical burns and kill vegetation. If you have wood with no previous sealer then you would use a sodium percarbonate based cleaner which is much easier on the wood. Both of the cleaners need to be followed up with an application of either citric acid or oxalic acid to neutralize the cleaners and restore the natural PH levels of the wood.

Using bleach leaves the PH levels extremely high and thus the wood surface will not accept the stain as readily as it would have normally.

One last thing, for best results let your wood weather for 6 months before applying any stain or sealer. It is not required but you will get better results and the finish will last longer thus saving you money.

Stay tuned for future posts where we discuss our stain choices and why we use them.

How is your curb appeal? Does your home exterior need cleaning?

How is the curb appeal on your home? Are you thinking of putting your home on the market?

If your roof looks like the one to the right be prepared to receive lower bids. These shingles look like they are going to need replacing soon.

Roof stain removal is possible and inexpensive compared to other home improvement options.
You can lose a buyer before they even pull into the drive way. They may decide to keep on driving and pick another house. Let's say you have the best finished interior home in Clarksville, TN. This will not matter if you can not get buyers in the door. They will drive up and change their minds saying to themselves that the house sure looked better in the photos. Don't let this happen to you. Secondly a home with a clean exterior will bring a higher bid than an identical home next door or down the street.

There are several things that you can do to the exterior of your home to keep the buyers interest. First is well maintained landscaping, trim back or remove those overgrown bushes and for heaven's sake keep the lawn mowed and trimmed. Cheapest thing you can do.
Next you must clean the outside of your home. This includes the roof as that is the largest single expense to replace (unless you have an large expansive deck). It is also the most noticeable. When a husband and wife walk up to a house the wife generally looks at the landscaping first while the husband will look at the roof first.

Then the next item is the gutters, if you have trees growing in the gutters you have just told the potential buyer that I didn't take care of this house. I was so lazy I didn't take the time to clean my gutters or hire someone to clean them. Well maybe you don't have trees growing in your gutter but take a look at the outside. Notice the black streaks? You need to get those off of there but there is a problem, these streaks are the hardest of the items to clean and most times require scrubbing to remove them. From a distance they look ok but up close they are filthy. Want to sell your home faster and for more money? Clean gutters look like new gutters.

Now we get to the siding. On my house the color of the vinyl siding is a yellowish tan color and it does not look bad from a distance but up close it looked terrible. Dusty looking mildew all over it with darker spotting. Well out comes the house wash and now that siding looks like it should. Clean and no mildew.

Probably the most neglected part of a home is the deck and fence because it is in the rear of the home and it has to have constant attention. Depending on the wood and the weather in Clarksville, TN your deck may need attention every year or two. Fences can go longer because (hopefully no one is walking on it) vertical surfaces hold up better because the water drains easily. If you can't afford to have the entire deck finished then at least have that old gray wood brightened. Make the fence and deck look like it was just built.

Doing all the things or at least some of them will greatly increase your chances of selling your home faster. Unless they are bargain shoppers the buyers usually want a house they do not have to put work into right from the start. This is where Great White Technologies comes in, We specialize in the cleaning of the exterior of your home. From roof stain removal to wood restoration and siding/house wash to gutter cleaning.

Make your Clarksville, Tennessee home shine on the outside like a beacon calling the buyers to view the beautiful interior of your home.