Pool deck cleaning and sealing in Scottsdale

Four things acting at once

An interior floor deals with foot traffic and the occasional spill. A pool deck deals with all of the following simultaneously, every day, for years.

Chlorine

Splash-out puts chlorinated water on the stone constantly, and as it evaporates it leaves what was dissolved in it behind.

Wet and dry cycling

The most damaging of the four and the least obvious. Every cycle drives mineral deeper into a porous surface, and a deck goes through that many times a day through a Scottsdale summer.

Calcium

The visible result of the above. It builds in layers, bonds harder the longer it sits, and eventually stops looking like a deposit and starts looking like the color of the stone.

Full sun

Nothing shading any of it. Sun bakes soil into the surface and, over enough years, does genuinely fade the stone.

Why sealing matters more outside

Worth being clear about because it is the opposite of what people assume.

Indoors, a sealer is protecting stone that is already fairly protected. There is a roof over it, the temperature is stable, and the main threat is a spill somebody will probably wipe up.

Outdoors there is nothing else. No roof, no stable conditions, and a constant cycle of wetting, evaporation and heat. An unsealed travertine deck in Scottsdale is absorbing everything, all the time, with no barrier of any kind.

If you are going to seal one stone surface on the property, seal the deck.

Faded decks come back further than people think

The most common thing we hear out here is that a deck is past saving, and frequently it is not.

A travertine deck after a decade of sun goes pale and chalky. The natural assumption is that the color has been bleached out and replacement is the only option.

A good deal of that pallor is mineral and soil sitting in the surface rather than lost color. Cleaning removes it, and the stone underneath is frequently in better condition than the surface suggested.

Add color enhancing sealer at $3.40/sqft after the discount and a deck that looked finished can come back close to how it looked new. On an 800 sqft deck that is $2,720, against a five-figure number to replace it.

We will tell you honestly which yours is. Genuine UV bleaching exists and no sealer reverses it, but it is less common than people fear.

Cool deck

Worth a separate note because it is not stone.

Cool deck is a coating applied over concrete, textured to stay cooler underfoot. It cleans and seals, and it has a lifespan. Where the coating itself has failed, come away or worn through to the concrete, cleaning does not restore it, and what you need is recoating rather than us.

We will tell you which you are looking at during the walkthrough. A cool deck in sound condition cleans up extremely well and sealing genuinely extends its life. One that has started delaminating is a different job.

What it costs

A 400 sqft surround is $680 cleaned or $1,020 cleaned and sealed. An 800 sqft deck and patio is $1,360 or $2,040. Full pricing here.

Timing it

Autumn is the window. Monsoon season is finished, everything the storms were going to put on your deck has arrived, and you are heading into the months when the space is actually usable.

Sealer also needs cure time before heavy traffic and before the pool gets used hard, which autumn gives you naturally. We tell you the recommended wait based on the product.

The worst timing is mid-summer, when the deck is in constant use, the surface is too hot to work comfortably, and two more months of storms are coming.

Questions