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I got the pressure washer out today with the intent to clean the deck. I've seen treated lumber, and it looks kind of greenish, so I thought I'd wet it, spray on the cleaning solution, and spray it off.

I "accidentally" chose the highest pressure nozzle, which made a bunch of squiggly lines all across the deck wherever I pointed the nozzle. Undaunted, I sprayed on the soap, then rinsed it off with the medium-pressure nozzle. The lines were still quite visible, so I tried to "soften" their appearance by spraying with the same medium-pressure nozzle from fairly close distances, "blending" the lines into the greener look of the rest of the deck.

Then I realized I was being lazy, and the entire deck was in need of an incredibly thorough washing, so I sprayed the hole thing with that same medium-pressure nozzle. I had to hold the nozzle about two inches above the deck, which gave me an inch-wide wall of water that was high-pressure enough to take off what was likely mildew and mold. 300 square feet of deck (and nearly three hours of bending over) later, the deck was looking pretty darn "brand new."

Yeah - much cleaner. I coated the whole deck with soap again and washed it off one last time.

Tomorrow, I'll coat the entire deck with a polyurethane-type sealant. I have two gallons, and although the label says one gallon should coat 350-400 square feet, I'm not so sure about that. I had intended to do this all in one day, but the deck is drying slowly and needs to be bone-dry for the sealant to work best.

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