Deck and fence care around Mobile Bay
Live Oak washes, repairs and re-stains the decks and fences of Mobile and Baldwin counties on a written two-year plan, so you are not guessing every few years whether it is time.
How the plan runs
The wood is washed every time. The stain goes on every other visit, and the year between is a check.
We wash with a mildew cleaner, let the wood dry, reset popped nails and sand rough spots, then stain.
A shorter visit. We wash again, look at every board and rail, and touch up the steps and rail tops.
Wash, a light sand and a new coat, before the stain wears through to bare wood.
We message you 30 days before each visit with the month, the work and the price. Call or text to cancel.
The plan, in three sizes
One visit a year, billed once a year. Your price is written after the walk-through.
A deck and its steps, washed every visit and re-stained every second year.
The deck, plus a privacy or picket fence on the same two-year turn.
A big deck, a long fence and the pieces between them, all on one visit.
A plan is a service agreement, not insurance. It is billed once a year, in the month of your first visit, and each year holds one visit: a wash and re-stain one year, a wash and check the next. To cancel, call or text before your renewal date; we text a reminder 30 days ahead, and you owe nothing for a year you have not started. Visits move when the weather moves them. Terms, limits and exclusions are in your written plan. Your price is written after the walk-through.
The wash
Gulf Coast humidity keeps wood damp for long stretches. Stain sealed over mildew tends to flake, with the spores still underneath.
So the wash is part of every visit, not an add-on. It takes a morning, then the wood dries for a day or two before any stain goes on.
Plants and grass wet down and covered first
Cleaner worked into the boards, rails and steps
A scrub and a rinse, then a drying day
Stain only on dry wood, in a dry forecast
What two years does
Unstained wood goes gray in a season or two. A worn stain lets the sun and damp in. The plan steps in before the second.
Sun and rain pull the color out and open the grain. Mildew likes it.
The finish peels at the board edges and where feet fall. Water gets under it.
The grain shows through the stain, and the board is sealed again for the next two years.
The crew
One owner who walks every job, a lead for each kind of work and a scheduler who sends the reminder texts. Three helpers join in the busy months.
Owner and estimator
Walks every deck and fence before the plan is written, and comes back for the first stain.
Crew lead, decks
Runs the deck crews and sets the drying days between wash and stain.
Fence stainer
Handles fence runs, gates and the sample boards.
Washing and prep
Washes, scrubs and sands, so the stain goes on clean, dry wood.
Scheduling and renewals
Sends the 30-day reminder texts and moves visits when the forecast turns.
From the plan
“Our deck had gone gray and green. They washed it, waited a day, and stained it. The check visit the next spring took less than a morning.”
“I like getting the text a month ahead with the visit and the price. No surprises, and I knew I could cancel.”
“They were careful with the azaleas along the fence. The rail tops and gate got touched up without my asking.”
“The written plan listed what was not covered, and when a few boards turned out to be soft they quoted them first.”
Sample reviews.
Service area
The shop is on Dauphin Island Parkway. If your town is not listed, text us and we will say whether the drive makes sense.
We do not take jobs across the Florida line or north of Mobile and Baldwin counties.
ZIP codes: 36605, 36606, 36608, 36609, 36618, 36695, 36505, 36521, 36523, 36559, 36574, 36562, 36542
Questions
The short answers. The long ones are on the questions page.
You get one visit a year. In the first year we wash the wood with a mildew cleaner, let it dry, repair the small things and stain it. In the second year we wash it again and check it, touching up the steps and rail tops. In the third year we re-stain, and the cycle repeats.
A mildew cleaner brushed on and worked in, a scrub of the boards and rails, and a rinse. Plants and grass are wet down and covered first. It happens at every visit, not only before a stain.
A stain visit on a deck of about 300 square feet is usually two to four working days, with a drying day in the middle. A wash-and-check visit is usually a half day to a day. These are ranges; the weather decides the exact days, and we text you the plan for the week.
No. We need access to the deck and fence, a hose spigot and a place to park. We text before we arrive and when we leave, and we will tell you what we saw.
The wood we looked at and its size, the repairs we will make, how many coats, the stain tone and finish, the visit months, the yearly price, what is not included and how to cancel. You get it after the walk-through, before anything is billed.
Replacing rotted boards or posts, stripping a stain or paint that has failed, and anything we find under the wood that was not visible at the walk-through. We quote each in writing before we do it.
Request a walk-through
Send what you know. We reply the next working day with a time to walk the wood.