Porch and Deck Care in Spring Hill and Thompson's Station

Around Spring Hill, Thompson's Station and College Grove, a lot of living happens outside: on the back deck in the evening, on a front porch watching the street, or on a wide farmhouse porch overlooking open land. Those surfaces take more punishment than any other part of a house. They lie flat in full sun, hold rain, and get walked on every day. With the right finish and a little upkeep each year, they can stay good-looking and solid for a long time.

Signs your deck or porch needs attention

Walk across it in the spring and look for:

• Water soaking in. Sprinkle water on the boards. If it beads up, the finish is still working. If it darkens the wood and disappears, the wood is unprotected.
• Graying wood. Sunlight turns bare wood silver-gray, a sign the protection is gone.
• Worn paths. Steps, doorways and the path to the grill wear first.
• Peeling. Paint and solid stain can peel on flat boards where water sits.
• Splinters and cracks. The wood is drying out and weathering.
• Soft spots. Press a screwdriver into the ends of boards and the bottoms of posts. Soft wood means rot.

Decks: choosing a finish

Deck finishes run from clear to fully opaque.

Clear finishes and toners show the most grain but offer the least protection from the sun, so they need refreshing more often.

Semi-transparent stains add color and protection while letting the grain show. They wear by fading rather than peeling, which makes the next coat simpler. They're a good choice for many decks.

Solid stains cover more like paint. They're useful on older decks with weathered or mismatched boards, and on railings and skirting. On walking surfaces they need regular attention.

Many homeowners use a semi-transparent stain on the deck floor and a solid stain on the railings, which gets the best of both.

A deck in the Canterbury neighborhood of Thompson's Station, which we wrote about on our old blog, went the solid route. The floor, railing, staircase and posts were all coated in Sherwin-Williams SuperDeck Self-Priming Solid stain in Westhighland White (SW 7566). A light solid color like that brightens a deck and gives every part of it one even finish.

Porches: a different job

A front porch is usually painted rather than stained, and every part of it needs its own approach.

Floors need a porch and floor coating built for foot traffic. Regular exterior wall paint won't hold up.

Steps take the most wear and often need touching up between full repaints.

Columns and railings collect water at their bases. Check the bottoms for soft wood.

Ceilings are protected from rain but can collect mildew in humid weather. A fresh coat on a porch ceiling brightens the whole entry.

Prep is what makes it last

1. Clean. Dirt, mildew and weathered fibers come off with a proper cleaner and a careful wash. Too much pressure can damage the wood.
2. Remove failing finish. Peeling paint or solid stain has to come off before a new coat.
3. Repair. Loose boards, raised fasteners and rotted wood are fixed first. Board replacements are carpentry, quoted separately with photos.
4. Dry fully. Wood must be dry before stain or paint goes on, which takes longer in humid weather.
5. Apply carefully. Stain is worked into the boards, including the cut ends, which soak up the most water.

When to do the work

Spring and fall usually give the best conditions: mild temperatures and drier stretches. Midday summer sun can dry stain before it soaks in. The product label sets the limits for temperature and rain, and a good painter plans around the forecast.

Simple habits that help

• Sweep leaves and debris off often.
• Keep planters on feet so water drains.
• Wash mildew off shaded areas before it spreads.
• Recoat before the finish is completely gone. A light maintenance coat is much easier than stripping and starting over.

How we can help

Nash Painting has painted and stained Middle Tennessee homes since 2009. There's no deposit, the written bid lists exactly what's included, and deck work carries a 1-year warranty. See our deck painting and staining page, learn about our work in Thompson's Station, or schedule an estimate.