Wood Deck Question

[oberah]

Hi, I have a second floor, wooden deck, approximately 20 x 20' in size. The support wooden post have these cracks, I was wondering if I should try to seal these with some wood filler to minimize water intrusion? The post themselves are about 20 feet long.
Thank you

 

[andyd]

Your house is gaining character. Filler is likely to trap water. I just run the brush down the cracks.

 

[MasterSolenoid]

Your house is gaining character. Filler is likely to trap water. I just run the brush down the cracks.

Also, seal any end grain.
The 'ends of boards' will soak up water or dry to fast causing cracks.

 

[slomo]

Get a sprayer and fog the snot out of that dry azz wood.

You need to be doing that 100 plus year old farmer's trick. 50/50 Diesel and used motor oil. Spray it on all your exterior wood. Fencing, chairs and decks. It will keep your wood like new if done every other year. Great way to recycle used motor oil too.

Trick, get used oil from a Diesel truck or car. It is darker and full of soot. Meaning it will stain the wood better than clean oil. My fence was built in 2017. Still looks new today. YouTube guy in England with a 40 year old fence, looks like new. They get a ton of rain there in the UK.

 

[sparky123]

I wouldn't overly worry about those cracks. They are probably not going to any worse. Southern Yellow pine. What would worry me if this post is a 4'x4' and is 20' long. Go buy some good Olympic solid wood stain (water based) and apply a coat. (That is, if it's not paint on the posts etc. ) I've seen much, much worse cracks. Enjoy the deck and weather.

 

[demarpaint]

Leave them alone, when you seal/treat the deck be sure to get a good soaking coat of the deck sealer/stain into those cracks. Filler is not going to hold up, and create more trouble and work than it's worth.

 

[Nessism1]

I'd try to force some preservative into the cracks. I don't know for a fact that it will accomplish anything, but it would make me feel better.

And for what it's worth...
Back when I lived in Ohio, the previous owner of my house build a massive, and beautiful deck. Sealed it with common clear deck/wood sealer product. The sealer was oily, which attracted dirt, and walking on the deck with clean socks, resulted in ruined socks. Black nasty grunge. I subsequently painted the deck with Olympic "solid color deck sealer", which was more or less a thin penetrating paint product. Not oily. Much cleaner to walk on. Somewhat maintenance intensive, though. Needed recoating every 5 years or so....

 

[Cropduster172]

It's called checking and it doesn't effect the structural support integrity of the posts at all, zero, nothing, goose egg. Only an idiot home inspector would tell you otherwise.