Should I pressure wash my wood deck or fence?

Not at high pressure. Too much pressure gouges and furs the wood, raising a fuzzy, splintered surface that soaks up water and fails faster. Wood should be soft washed with a wood-safe cleaner and low pressure, then brightened. High pressure is for hard surfaces like concrete, not wood.

How often should I restore my deck in metro Atlanta?

Clean a wood deck once a year to stay ahead of mildew and algae, and re-stain and seal every two to three years depending on sun exposure. Our humidity, pollen, and UV break down finishes faster here, so a south-facing deck may need staining sooner than a shaded one.

Can composite decking be cleaned?

Yes. Composite does not need stain, but mold and mildew still grow in the grain and it can develop a dull film, especially in shade. We soft wash composite with the right cleaner to bring back the color without damaging the surface. You never pressure wash composite hard, which can pit it and void the warranty.

Do you just clean, or do you stain and seal too?

Both. On wood we clean, brighten, and then stain and seal, which is what actually restores the color and protects the wood. Cleaning alone makes it look better for a season; the stain and seal is what makes the restoration last.

How much does deck and fence restoration cost in metro Atlanta?

A wood deck cleaning usually runs 150 to 400 dollars, and a full clean plus stain and seal typically runs several hundred to over a thousand depending on the size and condition of the deck. Fence cleaning is often 150 to 400 dollars. Composite cleaning is priced by size. Bundling with a house wash is cheaper than booking it on its own.

Deck & fence guide · By Mark

Deck and Fence Restoration in Metro Atlanta: Wood vs Composite

Why our climate grays out a deck and fades a fence so fast, how wood and composite each need to be handled, why high pressure ruins wood, and what restoration actually costs.

The short answer

A gray, mildewed wood deck or a faded fence is almost always restorable, not replaceable. The fix is a wood-safe soft wash, a brightener to bring back the natural tone, and then a fresh stain and seal to protect it. The one thing you should not do is blast wood with high pressure, which furs and gouges the boards and makes them fail faster. Composite decking is a different animal, it never needs stain, but it does grow mildew in the grain and needs a gentle clean. In metro Atlanta, plan to clean wood yearly and re-stain every two to three years, and budget roughly 150 to 400 dollars for a cleaning and several hundred to over a thousand for a full clean, stain, and seal depending on size.

Why Atlanta is hard on decks and fences

Our climate is close to a worst case for outdoor wood. The humidity keeps surfaces damp long enough for mildew and algae to take hold, which is the green and black film you see creeping across a shaded deck or the north side of a fence. The summer UV is relentless, and it bleaches the color out of both wood and stain, turning a rich board silvery-gray. Add the spring pollen that cakes into every grain, the red-clay dust that splashes up onto the lower fence boards, and the afternoon thunderstorms that soak everything again, and a deck that looked great two summers ago can look tired and weathered now. None of that means the wood is bad. It means the finish has worn off and the surface needs to be cleaned and re-protected.

Wood versus composite: how each one ages

Wood decks and fences

Most decks and fences here are pressure-treated pine or cedar. Wood is porous, so it drinks in moisture and grows mildew, and its finish is sacrificial, it is supposed to wear away over a few years and be renewed. Left alone, a wood surface goes gray as the UV breaks down the surface fibers, then it can start to cup, crack, and splinter as it repeatedly swells and dries. The good news is that gray is usually skin-deep. A proper clean and brighten pulls the healthy color back out, and a fresh stain and seal locks it in and buys you years.

Composite decking

Composite (Trex and similar) is sold as low-maintenance, and it is, but low-maintenance is not no-maintenance, especially in our humidity. Composite does not need stain and will not gray out the way wood does, but mold and mildew absolutely grow in the textured grain, and shaded boards can develop a dull, filmy look. The fix is a gentle soft wash with the right cleaner, never a hard pressure blast, which can pit the surface and can void the manufacturer warranty. Cleaned correctly, composite comes right back.

Why you should never high-pressure a wood deck

This is the single most common way homeowners damage their own deck. A pressure washer on a wide-open tip will strip the gray, and it feels satisfying, but it is tearing the soft spring wood out from between the harder grain. The result is a fuzzy, furred, splintered surface that looks worse up close, soaks up more water, and fails faster. The right way to restore wood is soft washing: a wood-safe cleaner does the work chemically, low pressure rinses it, and a brightener restores the tone. High pressure has its place on concrete and pavers, not on your deck boards.

Signs your deck or fence is due

The wood has gone silvery-gray or blotchy instead of its original warm tone.
Green or black film, especially on shaded boards or the north side of a fence.
Water soaks straight into the wood instead of beading up, which means the seal is gone.
Rough, fuzzy, or splintering board surfaces.
A composite deck that looks dull, filmy, or spotted with mildew in the grain.
It has simply been two or more years since the deck was last stained.

How a professional restores wood

Restoration is a sequence, and skipping steps is why a lot of DIY jobs do not last. Here is the process we use on wood.

Clear and protect. We move furniture and planters and protect the surrounding landscaping and siding before anything goes on the wood.
Soft wash with a wood-safe cleaner. We lift the mildew, algae, and gray weathering with the right cleaner and low pressure, never a high-pressure blast.
Brighten the wood. A brightener neutralizes the cleaner, restores the natural tone, and opens the grain so it can take stain evenly.
Let it dry fully. The wood has to reach the right moisture level, usually a day or two of dry weather, so the stain bonds instead of sealing moisture in.
Stain and seal. A quality stain and sealer protects against our UV and humidity and locks in the restored color.

Composite skips the brighten, stain, and seal steps. It gets the gentle clean only, which is all it needs and all it should get.

What deck and fence restoration costs in metro Atlanta

Restoration is priced by size and condition, and whether it is a clean only or a full clean, stain, and seal.

Job	Typical range
Wood deck cleaning (soft wash)	$150 to $400
Wood deck clean + stain & seal	Several hundred to $1,000+
Fence cleaning	$150 to $400
Composite deck cleaning	By size, ask for a quote
Bundled with a house soft wash	Add-on discount

Because most of a job's cost is setup and travel, adding a deck or fence to a house wash is cheaper than booking it alone. For the full breakdown across every service, see our 2026 pricing guide.

Deck and fence restoration in your city

We restore decks and fences across Marietta, East Cobb, Roswell, Alpharetta, and the rest of metro Atlanta. See our deck cleaning and staining service page for details, pair it with a house soft wash so the whole exterior gets handled in one visit, or fit it into your yearly exterior maintenance cycle. Text us a couple of photos and we will send a free, honest quote.

Common questions

Should I pressure wash my wood deck? Not at high pressure. It gouges and furs the wood and makes it fail faster. Wood should be soft washed with a wood-safe cleaner and low pressure, then brightened.

How often should I restore my deck? Clean wood yearly to stay ahead of mildew, and re-stain and seal every two to three years, sooner for a sun-baked, south-facing deck.

Can composite be cleaned? Yes, gently. It does not need stain, but mildew grows in the grain and it can dull, so a proper soft wash brings it back. Never blast composite hard.

Do you clean only, or stain and seal too? Both on wood. We clean, brighten, then stain and seal, which is what makes the restoration actually last.

How much does it cost? Roughly 150 to 400 dollars for a cleaning, and several hundred to over a thousand for a full clean, stain, and seal, depending on size and condition.

The bottom line

In metro Atlanta, a gray deck and a faded fence are not signs you need to rebuild, they are signs the finish has worn off and it is time to restore. Clean wood yearly, re-stain every two to three years, keep the pressure low and the cleaner wood-safe, and treat composite to a gentle wash instead of a blast. Do that and your deck and fence keep looking new for years longer than the wood would ever last on its own. Want a number for yours? Send us a couple of photos and we will give you a free, honest quote.