Your waterproof deck is one of your favorite home features. It looks great, offers outdoor living space, and protects the space below it from water. Inspecting it annually, however, isn’t always on the top of your list–and it should be! Regular inspections will allow you to extend the life of your deck, keeping it looking as nice as you’d prefer and ensuring that you’ll be able to keep using it without having to worry about extensive (and expensive) repairs.
Checking the Top Coat
Regular deck inspections will allow you to keep an eye on the vital top coat of your deck. This top coat, is the critical layer of protection that keeps the rest of your deck safe from the elements. The paint on your deck may still be as vibrant as the day you put it on, but if the top coat is starting to fade away, it won’t be long before your deck starts to deteriorate. Regular inspections will see damage to the top coat before it fades away completely, allowing you to get a fresh coat in place early.
Finding Scratches and Scrapes
Little scratches and scrapes in the top coat don’t seem like a big problem at first. If you aren’t inspecting your deck regularly, you might not even notice them. Unfortunately, those little scratches and scrapes can lead to damage that you can’t see. Over time, they’ll grow larger. If you’re using furniture with sharp edges, including plant stands and other items that you think aren’t moving, you’ll need to be sure that they aren’t damaging the surface of your deck–and annual waterproof deck inspections will catch that damage and keep your deck in working order.
Predicting Problems
You’ve had your deck for a while, and you’ve stopped thinking about just how critical it is to keep it in great shape. Perhaps you aren’t concerned with the things that were once serious issues or you’ve forgotten some of the maintenance tips that came along with your initial installation. When you have an annual waterproof deck inspection, your inspector will be able to tell you some of the potential problems that you’ll face later and how to fix them before it turns from a simple issue to a complex one. This might include:
- Removing items that have been screwed or nailed into the surface of the deck and filling the top coat back in
- Checking for nails that are sticking up or working their way loose
- Removing carpeting or other items that could lead to water being trapped on the surface of the deck, ultimately leading to dry rot
- Catching minor cases of dry rot before they become more serious
- Finding bubbles in the surface of the coating, which could be indicative of water pooling or collecting in another location
- Metal flashing that has started to rust or that has been pulled away from the surface of the deck
- Stains in the walls and ceilings of the rooms covered by the deck, which could indicate problems with the deck
Annual waterproof deck inspections are the best way to ensure that small issues with your deck won’t transform into big, expensive fixes over the course of just a couple of years. Please contact us for more information on our recommended times for inspections! We’ll work with you to ensure that your waterproof deck will look its best and function as well as you need it to for as long as possible.
