Few home features are more appealing than a teak deck. It adds a touch of luxury and elegance to your home, but there is some ongoing maintenance that must be done to retain the unique appeal of the wood, and some things you need to know when the time comes for teak refinishing.

The process starts with knowing when it needs to be done. The wood in a new or newer teak deck will have a radiant blonde color that almost looks like honey, but over time the appearance will slowly fade to gray.

There’s no need to panic if this happens to you, though. There are proven methods to restore the luster to your deck via teak refinishing, and the first step in that process is to have the deck professionally inspected. Professional restorers can detect the presence of dirt, mold and dust in the wood fibers, and the color of the wood will tell them which products need to be applied to make it look new again.

It’s impossible to emphasize the importance of getting the finish right, which is why you need to hire a professional to take care of your teak refinishing.

The actual restoration process starts with having the deck cleaned. This will remove any contaminants that have penetrated the wood, and any old coatings that don’t measure up will be stripped away during cleaning as well.

After that the deck will be sanded. Once again, professionals know how to do this the right way, and when the sending is done the smoothness will be restored to the teak.

The next step is to have the wood cleaned and bleached. This helps get the color right, and it eliminates any possibility of the presence of mold as well.

The final step in teak refinishing is to coat the wood and then apply a sealer. The key to this step is to use a high-quality product that will restore the natural color of the teak, and its just as critical that the sealer be a top-notch product as well.

A good sealer that is applied thoroughly will help prevent contaminants from reappearing, and it will make the deck easier to maintain going forward. The sealer can also add pigments and other natural elements, which will further enhance the look of your deck.

Once the teak deck has been refinished, its important to establish a maintenance plan. Good companies will clean your deck periodically to protect the integrity of the work they’ve done, so its well worth the relatively small expense for this kind of program.

A solid maintenance program will ensure the integrity of the teak refinishing job, plus it will also help maintain the value of this marvelous kind of deck. So its well worth the effort and the expense, and it will add to the value of your home as well.