LESLIE: Joseph in Florida needs some help with a composite deck. What can we do for you?
JOSEPH: I have two Trex decks that – one above the other. And they’re quite large, wrap around the house. And I’m having – they were installed in 2007 and since that time, they’ve developed a kind of a white film. At times, it has some black dots on it and also, the color has faded. And my question is: what can I do to restore that color and make it look more like new than the way it does now?
TOM: Well, I’m not aware that you can restore the color. The dots that you describe and the staining that you describe sound like it could be an algae. So, one thing that you should do is to clean that decking. Because, unfortunately, composites do tend sometimes to grow algae that tends to stick to them a bit, like what you’re describing. So I would make sure that I clean it.
JOSEPH: Mm-hmm. I do. I spray it with this Wet & Forget that you’ve recommended and it does do a good job on that.
TOM: OK, great. That’s good to hear.
JOSEPH: That’s really not the big problem. The problem is the whiteness – like the top of the handrails. The railings are all Trex and the top – this is high; this is up around 3,000 feet. And the top has turned white – a film, like on top of it. And I’ve tried washing it and spraying it and I didn’t use anything harsh on it. I didn’t want to – but I just wondered if there was something – can’t bring that color back up.
TOM: Trex says that you can stain it. I mean they do say that it’s OK to use an exterior stain with it. They recommend solid-color stains. They recommend, specifically, solid-color stains by either Behr or Sherwin-Williams.
LESLIE: You know, there’s a manufacturer – Messmer is their name – M-e-s-s-m-e-r. Messmer. And they actually have a composite-deck finish that’s made specifically for it. It’s in, I think, seven or eight different colors. And it does restore color to faded composite. I would give it a good cleaning and try to get rid of all that algae and mold growth that’s on there and then go ahead and look at this: the Messmer’s Composite Deck Finish.
JOSEPH: OK. Messmer. I’ll take a look for that and see if I can find it.
TOM: Alright. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
I recently had trex installed on my deck. within a few days all the boards have turned white. What can be done about this. Could it be that the trex was of poor quality? Do alll the boards need to be replaced?