Is it necessary to pressure wash cedar before staining?

We hired a student company to stain our cedar deck we had put in last year. They basically tore our deck apart into what I would call a splintered nightmare and some of the deck spindles are even cracked and breaking. They did an awful job and now I dont know what to do. I dont want them to continue with the work and I am calling the guy that built our deck to do a damage report so I can sue the company for the cost of having a new deck built. What does everyone think about the whole thing?Is it necessary to pressure wash cedar before staining?
First, you hire professionals.


Never use a powerwasher on soft woods because it can ';etch'; the wood.


Sand off the splitered areas and restain or paint the whole deck.


I'm unclear as to why the spindles are cracked and breaking ... did the original carpenter use ';salt treated lumber?'; If not, HE may be the guy who's at fault. Only salt treated wood is weather resistant ... powerwashing wont crack a spindle.





Next time, clean your deck with bleach and water. 1 part bleach to 10 parts water. Use a bucket and a scrub brush, then rinse. You can stain after 24 hours.Is it necessary to pressure wash cedar before staining?
yes you can use a pressure washer but it takes a pro to not do more harm than good...the tip needs to be a wide fan type like 30deg. and you should keep it a foot from the surface but in the case of one year of weather sounds like he over killed it..you should stain it with a product called penofin its a stain from oils of Brazilian hard woods its great...no matter what stain you use it should have a SPF cedar will gray if you don't the splitting sounds like a installation flaw...did he nail the spindles or pre-drill and use stainless steal screws?....if you paid for a custom/premium deck it should be all screw's and all stainless...what did you pay per foot if i might ask?