Sunday, May 19, 2013

Spring Cleaning

I actually got quite a few things accomplished this weekend, so I will have a follow up post at some point soon.

One of the things that I tackled was cleaning our deck. I had actually swept and rinsed the deck yesterday before using a deck cleaner on it today. This green algae had attacked the deck this Spring. Actually, I had been seeing this stuff on everything recently.

Before:




I got this spray on deck wash from Home Depot that you connect to the garden hose and spray on. You are supposed to leave it for 10 minutes. I also used a scrub brush to put some elbow grease into it (sorry for looking like a hot mess in these photos). Just as an FYI, using elbow grease is much better on decks than power washing, which can damage the wood and make it harder for stains and sealants to work.

You could actually see the algae coming off the wood and being pushed by the brush.

I then rinsed off the deck and let it dry. Admittedly, I didn't get it looking perfect, but it looks a lot better.

See, no green (well, except the parsley). I have thought about staining and sealing it, but that just feels like more work than I would really like to put into it. We'll see.


I also decided to give the shower a deep clean. The grout lines weren't looking too hot.

I first took care of cleaning the grate and pipe, which can get kind of nasty over time.

I then saw this trick on youtube of using duct tape over the grate and then filling up the shower with a bleach solution.

There's water and bleach in the shower (hard to see).

I let it sit for about 2 hours and then let it drain. After it drained, I noticed we had a shower monster lurking in the pipes, so I fished it out. What is a shower monster you ask? Well, it's what happens when you have a female in the household. It's basically a soap-scummed ball of hair, and it's really gross. The best way to fish them out is with a bent hangar. And if you let it go, you will eventually have water draining problems.

After everything had been cleaned and dried out, I sealed the grout and tile again. It's a simple wipe on solution you can pick up in the tile section of home improvement stores and will protect against future mold and mildew.

I have to say, I am pretty tired at this point. Cleaning can be tiring!

We also did some fun things this weekend as well - we saw Star Trek 2 (awesome) and saw some friends on Saturday. And this morning, we made it to church again, which was good (since it's been a few weeks). I hope you all had great weekends!

4 comments:

  1. Let me know what that stuff is called, our deck could use a good old fashioned elbow greasing!

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    1. I used: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Mold-Armor-56-oz-E-Z-Deck-and-Fence-Wash-FG512/100625087#BVRRWidgetID which we picked up at Home Depot (did not look at the reviews beforehand). Sounds like it had okay reviews. I did have to really scrub to get good results, so I imagine there is better deck wash out there. I do know that you will get better results with deck wash that has bleach in it. Just make sure it's non-Chlorine bleach or you'll end up with bleach stains (deck wash with bleach is non-Chlorine based). I hope that helps!

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  2. Cathy - does the deck wash only work on wood? I noticed we had the same algae looking stuff on part of our concrete patio at the new place. Just wondering what I'll need to pick up at Home Depot to wash that away! Keeping in mind, I won't have a hose to use to power wash it :(
    Ps - you'll have to tell me which church you & J go to.. I've been meaning to ask!!

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    1. Hey Courtney, so it should work on concrete, but a bleach and water solution should work too (honestly, I would try a mixture of tide with bleach and water and a scrub brush). The bleach will kill off the moss, algae, or mold (apparently it can be any of these). And I'll definitely email you the church name. You guys are always welcome to come with us. :)

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