Deck maintenance schedule by material

What’s inside the PDF

• Year 1 / Year 5 / Year 10 milestones for all four major deck materials
• Spring inspection routine — fasteners, ledger, flashing, joist hangers
• Summer-heat prep routine — UV protection, board expansion, fastener back-out
• Cleaner + sealant recommendations by material
• Failure signs that mean it's time to call a contractor instead of DIY-ing

How to use it

• Pin to the inside of the garage door — the routine fails when it's out of sight
• Schedule the spring inspection for the first weekend after the last frost risk
• Cross-reference the year column with your build year to know what cycle you're on
• Photograph any flagged failure signs and email a contractor before they propagate

Why this template exists

Deck maintenance is mostly about catching small problems before they become structural ones. The schedule walks through the practical routine I've watched homeowners actually follow over a decade — not the manufacturer marketing schedule, which assumes you do everything perfectly. Pressure-treated decks need the most attention in DFW (annual cleaning, sealant every 12–18 months because Texas UV chews through finishes faster than northern markets, board replacement on the cuts that catch the worst sun around year ten). Cedar weathers to a silver-grey under Texas sun and needs refinishing every 18–24 months if you want to keep the colour. Composite and PVC need washing twice a year and otherwise nothing — but watch fastener back-out on south-facing decks where board expansion and contraction is most aggressive. The failure-sign section at the bottom is the part to actually pin up — it tells you when a small problem (rust streak under a fastener, a soft spot near the ledger after a thunderstorm, a wobble in a stair stringer) is the kind of small problem that gets dramatically bigger if you ignore it through a Texas summer.