DeckTec’s Adam Guilford talks about taking care of your snowy deck.

The man in the parking lot wrapped his coat tighter and called out, “It’s too cold today.” While indeed the weather was cloudy, temperatures that day were in the high 30’s. Wonder what he’ll do when the real cold of Colorado’s winters hit.

And snow.

And ice.

Colorado winters can indeed be harsh, not only on you, but on your deck as well. Our snowfalls can occur any time during approximately eight months of the year. And when the risk of snow stops, you can often be hit by hail, as the residents of southeast Denver found in late September this year.

DeckTec’s Adam Guilford said, “With the bigger storms, and even the light dustings, you want to get the snow off your deck as soon as possible. Don’t wait for it to partially melt and then re-freeze over night.”

Adam, who has been on the DeckTec team for 8 years, is on the front line of customer service, and repeatedly supports homeowner efforts to take good care of their decks. This is particularly true during the winter. He recommends a good sweeping of your deck whenever it snows.

“Sweeping the snow away protects your investment from all the factors of moisture, sun-bleaching, and stain discoloration,” said Adam. “It’s a simple, worthwhile investment of your time.”

Adam recommends sweeping over shoveling, as this is a gentler approach to keeping your deck clear. Metal-edged shovels can do real damage to your horizontal surfaces, whether those decks are made of redwood or the composites many people have bought.

“Composite is a poor flooring option,” said Adam. “Once you get the puddling, refreezing, and discoloration from uneven wear and tear, you have to replace entire boards. That’s expensive, and the dye lots don’t tend to match.”

With redwood, you want to be gentle, but it tends to hold up even to Colorado’s harsh weather. Adam explained that this is due to something called “tannins” that naturally exist in redwood.

“Tannins are chemicals found naturally in redwood and cedar, and these tannins protect the wood from insect infestation, wood rot, and fungi attacks,” said Adam. “The tannins also help keep the wood naturally moist so that ice and snow don’t tend to seep into the grain and cause cracking or wood chipping.”

Some people may be tempted to use the commercially available snow pellets or snow melts to keep their decks clear of ice and snow. Adam recommended staying away from those as well.

“Those melts are designed for use on cement, not on beautiful redwood. My instinct says that the salts in these products would negatively affect your finish.”

Adam also advised against just leaving your deck to the whims of winter as this would be very hard on your wood finishes. “The integrity of your structure would be sound,” said Adam, “but the finishes you paid for could be damaged. A good wood finish should last a couple of years, but if you let the snow sit on it, you’ll have to have that finish replaced more often.”

“Look,” said Adam, “It’s better to invest a few minutes in sweeping when a storm hits than have a deck that’s been compromised by the elements left to sit on it. You could be saving yourself hundreds of dollars of maintenance work in the long run.”

And Adam reminds us that we want to also clear the top-caps, or horizontal rail coverings, as well. They are the most vulnerable part of the deck as they are flat and will collect the rain and snow that fall as well as soaking in even more UV rays than the flat surfaces of the deck.

If you’re a homeowner that doesn’t care for all this activity required when the snow hits, Adam has one more suggestion. “You can avoid a lot of work all together, with a roof addition,” said Adam. “Not only do you protect your deck in the winter, but your summers will be more comfortable with a cooler deck in the shade.”

So when you hit your local hardware store for snowstorm supplies this year, walk past the crowd near the snow blowers and shovels. Head to the less crowded house-cleaning aisle, where you’ll find the best tool for the times—a good broom.

(Photo by Rachel Kramer)