Treat and Maintain Your Wooden Terrace

Step 1 | To prepare Your wooden terrace has a lot to endure through the year due to rain, sun and for example wet leaves. Untreated wood will also be aged by, for example, UV radiation. In order to ensure that your wooden terrace always looks nicely cared for, you can treat the terrace. You should always clean your terrace decking well before you can treat it. Wipe / scrub the terrace thoroughly and use an algae cleaner if necessary. You can also spray your terrace with a high-pressure cleaner. Be careful not to spray too hard as the wood fibers come loose and splinters may occur. Your ipe decking must be clean, free of dust, smooth and especially well dried. Cover furniture, garden items and plants with protective film to protect them from dust, paint splashes and drops. Step 2 | Application of primer Difference between oil, stain and lacquer is; Stain is moisture regulating. This means that stained wood can continue to work after it has been treated. Moisture will pull in and out of the wood, but the wood is still protected. Paint and varnish isolate the wood and therefore offer protection in a different way. A stain draws in the wood, where a paint, as it were, remains on the ipe decking, or attaches itself to the surface. Stained wood is therefore also 'protected' in the wood. Wood oil is just like stain a liquid that has been developed to optimally protect garden wood. The oil penetrates deep into the wood (especially with the softer woods), feeding and protecting it from the inside. Step 3 | Apply stain or paint Mix the stain / paint well before you get started. Apply the first layer with a brush, applying an even layer on your ipe decking. Do not apply stain, varnish or oil too thick. Once you have applied oil, after the treatment you go over the layer with a cloth to remove excess oil. Allow the first coat to dry thoroughly and apply a second coat if necessary. Note the following points:

• Adjust the roller and / or brush on the purchased product, the rollers and brushes have different properties for acrylic than for alkyd.
• Choose a brush and a high quality roller. The tool you use has the same impact on the time you need and on the end result as the paint itself.
• Before using a brush for the first time, you pass it on a piece of sandpaper a few times. The loose hairs remain on the sandpaper and do not end up in your paint.
• Put a tray in your paint container before you fill it. When you have finished painting, pour the remaining paint back into the pot. The rest will let you dry in the tray. Then you can throw it away. This will keep your paint box clean.

Step 4 | After painting Terpentine but also acrylic paint is harmful to the environment, so do not rinse dirty water / turpentine through the sink. Do you not want to use the brush or roller again later? Let them dry and throw them away with the normal household waste, just like dry paint cans or paint trays. The cloth that you used for the oil can be ignited by the mix of oil & oxygen itself. After use, put the cloth in a bucket of water, then you can throw the cloth away.