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# Quit Screwing With Your Wood
- URL: https://rough-edges.ghost.io/quit-screwing-with-your-wood/
- Published: 2026-10-07T16:30:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-26T06:24:46.000Z
- Description: I spend a lot of time looking at other men's wood. There. Now that half of you clicked on this, we're talking about decks. Sorry to disappoint ya. Although if you've been around here very long you oughta know there's a pretty good chance we'll…
- Author: Joe Durst
- Tags: Construction, #blogger-archive, #Import 2026-10-26 03:50

I spend a lot of time looking at other men's wood.

There.

Now that half of you clicked on this, we're talking about decks.

Sorry to disappoint ya.

Although if you've been around here very long you oughta know there's a pretty good chance we'll get to the other kind before this is over.

Anyway.

I've worked on enough decks over the years to know one thing.

Some of y'all need to leave your damn wood alone.

Seriously.

A board turns a little gray and somebody decides the whole deck's dying.

Then here comes the pressure washer.

Then some cleaner.

Then another cleaner.

Then stain.

Then another coat because apparently if one coat is good, four oughta be better.

By the time I get there the poor deck's been through more shit than I have.

## GRAY DON'T MEAN DEAD

Here's something people get wrong all the damn time.

Wood changes.

It's outside.

Sun beats the shit out of it.

Rain gets on it.

Snow sits on it.

Leaves pile up.

Birds shit on it.

That's life.

So yeah, eventually your deck ain't gonna look like it did the day somebody built it.

That don't automatically mean there's something wrong with it.

Weathered ain't the same thing as rotten.

Dirty ain't the same thing as rotten either.

And old sure as hell ain't the same thing as useless.

I feel like there's probably a lesson for some of us in there somewhere.

But I ain't getting philosophical about a deck today.

## QUIT BEATING THE SHIT OUT OF IT

I know some of y'all love a pressure washer.

I get it.

They're fun.

You start cleaning one board and next thing you know you've been out there three hours cleaning the deck, the sidewalk, the trash cans and probably part of the neighbor's driveway.

But more pressure ain't always better.

You can tear the hell outta wood if you don't know what you're doing.

And I've seen it.

Guy gets that nozzle about three inches off the board and starts carving his initials into the damn thing.

Then wonders why the deck looks fuzzy when it dries.

Cause you beat the shit out of it, buddy.

That's why.

Clean it.

Don't punish it.

There's a difference.

## AND QUIT PUTTING SHIT ON TOP OF SHIT

This one's another favorite.

Something ain't looking right so somebody decides it needs another coat of something.

Don't know what's already on there.

Don't know if the wood's ready for it.

Don't know if the shit they're putting on it is even supposed to go over the shit that's already there.

But they got a brush and Saturday afternoon free, so here we go.

Then six months later shit's peeling everywhere.

And somehow the stain gets blamed.

Sometimes you gotta clean something up before you start covering it up.

Sometimes you gotta strip the old shit.

Sometimes you gotta let the wood dry.

Sometimes you gotta read the damn directions.

I know.

That last one's controversial among men.

We're not big readers when there's a perfectly good opportunity to screw something up first.

## SOMETIMES IT JUST NEEDS A LITTLE ATTENTION

That's really the point.

A lot of decks don't need replaced.

They need somebody to pay attention to em.

Clean the dirt off.

Get the leaves outta the corners.

Check the boards.

Look for loose fasteners.

Pay attention to places that stay wet.

See what's actually going on before you start throwing money at it.

I've had people look at an old deck and decide it's done just because it looks like hell.

Hell, I look like hell some mornings.

Nobody's torn me down and replaced me yet.

Give me some coffee and a shower first.

## I FINALLY PUT ALL THIS SHIT IN ONE PLACE

I get enough questions about decks and what I use on em that I finally put some of it together on the website.

Cleaning stuff.

Protecting it.

Things worth looking at if you're trying to get a little more life outta what you've already got.

We called the page **Let's Talk About Our Wood.**

Yeah.

I know.

I named it that on purpose.

I'm 40-something.

Not dead.

[LET'S TALK ABOUT OUR WOOD →](https://www.joedurst.com/lets-talk-about-our-wood/?ref=rough-edges.ghost.io)

And before you get too excited...

Yes.

There's some other wood on there too.

I know my audience.

Some of y'all haven't read a damn word I've written since the first sentence.

You're just waiting for me to make a dick joke.

There.

Dick.

Happy?

## KNOW WHEN TO LEAVE THE DAMN THING ALONE

I reckon that's my advice.

Take care of your wood.

Keep it clean.

Protect it when it needs protecting.

Fix shit before the little problem becomes the big problem.

But quit screwing with it just because it don't look brand new anymore.

Nothing stays brand new.

Not decks.

Not trucks.

Not houses.

Not us.

Doesn't mean it's used up.

Sometimes the old shit's better anyway.

It's already proven it'll hold up.

Well shit.

I got philosophical about a deck after all.

Knew that was gonna happen.

Anyway.

Go check your wood.

And for God's sake...

Don't send me pictures without telling me which kind first.

— Joe