While your new composite deck may be virtually maintenance-free, that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few easy steps you can take to prolong the life of your deck this winter.
- Clear Away Leaves
Before the snow flies, ensure the leaves have been cleared from your deck to reduce the development of mold and mildew that may stain the composite. Leaves have natural tannins that are almost impossible to get out of anything. - Remove Deck Furniture
Unless your outdoor furniture is made from stainless steel or aluminum, store it away from your deck in the winter or cover it and place it on blocks. Patio furniture made from other material can degrade over winter and cause rust or other deterioration that can cause stains to your deck. - Removing snow and ice from your deck?
You can remove any snow from the deck, we recommend only using plastic shovels to avoid scraping, or cutting new decking products. If you would prefer to completely remove all snow and ice from your deck, any form of ice melter can be used. - Ensure any rubber or PVC products are not touching on the deck over winter
Rubber and PVC cause a chemical reaction together that can leave you new deck permanently discolored if these two products have been left touching each other. - When BBQing over the winter, it’s a good idea to have a grease mat underneath your grease tray. This will allow all the grease to be easily cleaned up come summer.
