Deck waterproofing is an essential aspect of owning an outdoor deck. You cannot expect to have this incredible outdoor area without having to work and maintain it. The more attention you pay to your deck, the more you will be able to enjoy it. The key is making sure that you avoid water damage at all costs. A water leak is one of the worst things that can happen to your deck and can force you to pay for major repairs. If you take your time and do things correctly at first, this can always be avoided. But if you don’t, you could be headed for some major problems. Here are the risks that arise if you do not waterproof your deck.
Water Damage
The first most obvious risk factor of avoiding deck waterproofing is water damage. If the deck is not resistant to water, then water will gladly fill in any gaps and crevices that it can and destroy it from the inside out. The major signs that waterproofing is needed are actually issues that directly impact safety such as broken or loose flashings. The other deck elements are often the first visible red flags, and these can also be significant hazards. Soft spots are one of the main hazards to people walking on your deck because it could cause them to trip and fall.
Rebuilding & Restoring
If you allow the water damage to build up or do not properly waterproof your outdoor deck before a big storm hits, you may have some renovations on your hands. When you don’t properly waterproof your deck and weather hits, there’s not much you can do but pray the water damage isn’t too significant. Once the damage is done, all there is left to do is fix it, which can take a lot of time and money. Another issue with renovating, is if you weren’t vigilant about taking care of your deck, the costs could be so high that you might have to simply start from scratch.
Mold Buildup
This is something that can go unnoticed if you do not pay close attention to your outdoor deck. Once water accumulates on or in your deck, it will begin to create mold. When this happens it is not only dangerous to ingest and breathe, but it compromises the structure of your deck. This can cause structural damage or even worse, physical damage to someone who could be injured because of instability and weakness of the structure itself. Going back to rebuilding, if your deck has been infested with mold, you will most likely have to scrap it and start new. It is extremely difficult to repair moldy materials and they almost always are unusable.
Safety Hazards
The most dangerous risk factor of them all is how unsafe your deck can become once it has too much water damage. As you can see in most of the other risks, they all boil down to damaging your deck and how that damage can in turn affect the people that would be enjoying your deck. If it has not been waterproofed you must call a professional to handle it, because if not, you will not be able to use it at your leisure. You would be opening yourself to potential lawsuits if someone were to get hurt on your deck and if the hazard could have been avoided.
After all that, it should be clear that not waterproofing your deck is simply not an option. The risks are clear, and need to be taken into consideration when working on your outdoor deck. Please work with professionals so that you know your deck is as safe as possible, so you can enjoy it for years to come. To schedule an appointment with the pros, visit us at WICR. We’ll help you find the best option for all your outdoor decking needs.
