Dock & Pier Staining Lake Bluff, IL

Dock & pier staining for Lake Bluff homes

Lake Bluff has an older village center and bluff-top lakefront homes, and that shapes how we approach dock & pier staining here. In practice that means east-facing decks with lake wind and sun.

Lake Bluff sits on Lake Michigan, and waterfront wood weathers faster on the water-facing side than the house side. We check both and often give the exposed side a second coat.

We clean, seal and stain fixed and seasonal wood docks, piers, boardwalks and shore steps on Fox Lake, Pistakee, Channel Lake, Lake Marie, Grass Lake, Bangs Lake, Cedar Lake, Diamond Lake, Round Lake, Island Lake and the rest of the county's inland lakes. Seasonal pier sections are best done on land in spring before they go in, or in fall after they come out.

How the job goes in Lake Bluff

1. Schedule around the waterSpring before the pier goes in, or fall after it comes out, is ideal. Fixed docks are done in dry weather with drop cloths and containment.
2. CleanPercarbonate cleaner and low-pressure rinse remove algae, gray and goose mess. Slime on the lower boards gets a scrub.
3. Dry fullyDock wood is wetter than deck wood. We wait for a meter reading under 15% before anything goes on.
4. Stain or sealPenetrating finish, back-brushed, with attention to board ends and the underside edges where water wicks in.

Other work we do in Lake Bluff

Homeowners here also ask us about Fence staining in Lake Bluff, Deck restoration in Lake Bluff and Composite deck cleaning in Lake Bluff. See everything on the Lake Bluff service area page, or read the full dock & pier staining guide. We also cover nearby North Chicago, Bannockburn and Highwood.