Ask the Builder: Maintenance-Free Decks? Yeah, Right!

Decks will foster algae and moss if left alone.

I‘m pressure-washing my maintenance-free deck. Beware of mendacious marketing managers! Tim Carter/Tribune Content Agency/TNS

I gave my electric pressure washer a vigorous workout this weekend. I cleaned 1,100 square feet of composite decking, 100 feet of guardrails, and a 16-foot long staircase. The project spanned two days. The decking I cleaned was marketed years ago as being maintenance-free. Bah humbug!

Allow me to provide some context. I remember when I was a young carpenter. I purchased my lumber from Hyde Park Lumber Company in Cincinnati. The orange and blue big-box retailers were not yet a glint in the eye of the founders.