What kind of damage can pressure washing cause to wood?
Unfortunately, pressure washers have been the cause of innocent, but serious damage to the wood on thousands of decks, by both “professionals” and the do-it-yourself person. This is caused by using too much pressure on the wood frequently at an improper angle of attack, which digs out the soft white wood between the dark wood of the tree rings. Very few people who wash decks, understand the structure and difference between the light and dark colored wood in the tree ring pattern. But this knowledge is vital in avoiding damage to the wood. It only takes ONE wrong or accidental stroke of the pressure washer wand to cut deep irreparable grooves into the wood. This results in grooves which act as traps for water, which eventually seeps into the wood, loosening the fibers which hold the wood together. In freezing temperatures, this water expands when it freezes and pushes the wood fibers apart, forming a crack which makes the problem worse…quite rapidly. Once this process begins, its impo
