By Bill Leys

I entered the world of HOAs as the manager of sixteen HOAs and was quickly indoctrinated into the various deck problems that some of my Association clients faced. Approximately ten of my Associations had some sort of issue with their decks over living spaces, whether it was just two decks in one complex with a leak or fifty decks in another that needed to be resealed or the eight decks that ended up being completely rebuilt from the ground up, completely destroyed from the inside out by dry-rot caused by leaking coatings that the Association failed to maintain properly.

It was those eight decks that really got me thinking—thinking that how on earth could, by simply failing to maintain the sealant as per the manufacturer’s recommendations, such colossal damage could occur to these decks in a relatively short period of time? My research into the deck coating "protecting" those eight decks, combined with further research into other coatings, led to a career change from a manager to a vendor with the goal being to educate as many Associations and Management firms as I could about their decks maintenance needs.

Now imagine for a moment if you will, that you as a Board member, had received the bad news that your Associations waterproof deck coatings were worn out and needed to be replaced. You’ve got your required three bids, the cost is all about the same and the contractors are all reputable. You have reviewed the bids; at least the cost portion of the bids and your Board is ready to make a decision. You think, "We’ll just pick the low bid since all the contractors are on our management companies list of approved vendors. There can’t be much difference between them."

Then during a discussion of whom to pick, you happen to start reading one manufacturer’s maintenance instructions and your eyes happen to glance upon a startling warning in it that says "Clay and concrete pots are not recommended for use on this system." You think to yourself, "But everyone at our HOA has clay pots on their decks. Maybe this isn’t such a good choice for us." You look at the next bidder’s maintenance instructions that say "Chair legs and table legs must have tips on them to prevent the coating from being cut. How are we going to ever enforce that? Maybe this isn’t what we need either." Then you look at the third bid and the maintenance instructions, and it says to reseal the deck every two to three years. "Every two to three years! Wow, that’s quite often; I wonder how much that costs each time?" "We are really going to have to be careful, no matter which coating we pick."

Well, you’re right, you will have to be careful, no matter which coating you pick from those three bids. However, you can significantly reduce your risk of damaged coatings caused by well intentioned residents who just want to enjoy their deck, grill a couple steaks and grow a few tomatoes in a clay pot, by selecting one that doesn’t have those types of liabilities associated with it. Can find one like that?

Now imagine you got a fourth bid, specifying a deck coating that won’t break down from UV degradation, where the waterproofing layer can’t be burnt through by a hot coal, that won’t be damaged by clay pots and can’t be cut through by an unprotected table leg. Add in a maintenance cycle of up to five years between normal resealing times, and it seems that you’ve found the magic deck coating that you’ve always wished for. Oh, and this deck coating costs about the same to install as the other bids. Imagine no more—that deck coating is out on the market place and is ready to serve your Association for years with nary a whimper.

Desert Crete® is manufactured by Hill Brothers Chemical Company, located in Orange, CA. Hill Brothers is the company that first developed and sold Magnesite®, one of the first "deck coatings." With a long history of achievements, Hill Brothers developed Desert Crete to compete with and beat the competition. Desert Crete’s® advantages are many when compared against the typical deck coatings. Typical coatings sold to HOAs today include slip-sheet systems, urethanes and fiberglass coatings.

The Desert Crete® system is applied beginning with an expanded galvanized metal lath being stapled down over the substrate with 24 staples per square foot. Then Desert Crete Polybase is mixed and troweled into the lath, covering it completely. After drying, in 2-3 hours usually, fiberglass matting is laid onto the deck and Bonder 480 (the waterproofing) is rolled into and through the fiberglass. After the Bonder 480 dries, a second Desert Crete Polybase application is troweled over the bonded fiberglass, encasing it into cement. A variety of different finishes can then be applied over the base system. Typical finishes include a knockdown texture for anti-slip properties, followed with 2 coats of pigmented sealer.

Desert Crete® is an ICC rated roof and walking deck product. It has a Class A fire rating of one hour when installed in the manner recommended by the manufacturer. While many coatings can claim a Class A rating, few can actually resist being damaged from a hot coal burning into the coating, necessitating expensive repairs by the installer.

Desert Crete® is a double reinforced coating. Metal lath and fiberglass act as anti-fracture membranes, preventing cracking. Urethanes can’t prevent cracking from occurring at plywood seams. Urethane manufacturers use fiberglass tape over plywood seams, with dubious results, to reduce seams from telegraphing through the finish. Slip-sheet systems typically crack at the flashing points where it is attached. Heavy items-a wine barrel planter on the deck for instance, prevents a slip-sheet from moving properly, which can cause stress cracks.

Desert Crete® can be sloped; up to three inches of sloping can be done with this material. This can save thousands of dollars because decks need ¼" per foot of fall. Revising a deck’s framing to provide slope is very costly. Desert Crete® has flexibility, allowing some movement in the framing, without cracking.

Desert Crete® uses specially developed sealers. Hill Brothers water based, environmentally friendly Concrete, Masonry, Floor Paint & Sealer (CMFPS) has a UV life cycle of up to five years, two to three years longer than competing coatings. For an HOA, this is a very important item, and I will explain why later in this article.

Some coatings will start to self-destruct because UV will attack the vulnerable waterproofing underneath the top coat/sealer. If you compare suntan lotion that we use to protect our skin to a deck coating sealer, it’s easy to understand what can happen. Before we go off to work everyday, we put on suntan lotion to protect us from UV. If we don’t put lotion on, our skin will get sunburned, and it will then start to dry out, peel and crack. Eventually, if we ignore our suntan lotion needs, we risk getting skin cancer.

Urethane and slip-sheet systems have a similar problem. If the deck isn’t resealed per the manufacturer’s instructions, the sun will burn up the sealer (suntan lotion), the deck coating’s waterproofing will be exposed to UV and the waterproofing will get sunburned, and it will then start to peel, split and crack-just like your skin does. The deck then dies a slow death.

Another major consideration when choosing a deck coating is vapor transmission, which is becoming an extremely important issue. Urethanes and slip-sheet coatings are unable to "breath" moisture out through the coating. Vents or specialized flashing that allows vapor transmission to occur are required items when installing these systems. Desert Crete has the ability to breath vapor up and out through the coating, reducing the risk of dry rot starting due to trapped water. Water can get under a coating from many different sources; decks over living spaces can have vapor coming up through from showers, from faulty stucco, flashing or windows. Excess moisture under a non-breathable deck coating can create ideal conditions for mold and mildew to flourish.

When installed in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications, the Desert Crete system has a five-year warranty against defective materials backed by the manufacturer. In addition, a five-year labor warranty from the installer is also part of the package. Terms of the manufacturer’s warranty do not include the often found clause requiring maintenance such as resealing the deck very three years.

Other advantages that are important to HOAs are that Desert Crete’s waterproofing can’t be burned through from a hot coal from a grill falling on it. Urethanes and slip-sheets can be burned down through to the waterproofing in very short order, necessitating a costly repair. While clay and concrete pots should be raised up off the surface to allow water to dry, Desert Crete® is nearly impervious to water damaging the waterproofing on a properly sloped deck. Unprotected tips of chair/table legs will cut into urethane coatings and slip sheet systems. Desert Crete wards off these problems with polymer-modified cement that is difficult to damage. Its high compressive strength resists damage. I have seen decks that have been severely damaged simply from women’s high-heeled shoes creating an enormous pinpoint load.

The last, and probably one of the most important qualities of the Desert Crete system, is the life span of the sealer it uses. Remember above where I explained the longer UV life span? Desert Crete’s sealer has a UV life span of up to five years—two to three years longer than other products.

What does this mean to an HOA? Simple math shows that a deck with a typical deck coating system with 1000 square feet needing to be cleaned and resealed every three years, at a cost of, say $2 per square foot, will cost $2,000 each time. If the life span of the coating is thirty years, you will need to reseal that deck ten times over the thirty years. At today’s cost of $2,000 each time, multiply that by ten and the maintenance cost of that one deck is $20,000. Add in the initial cost of purchasing that deck and you have your true cost of ownership.

Now compare Desert Crete®, with the same sizes and costs—1000 square feet, $2 per square foot to clean and reseal. But you have to reseal the coating only every five years—six times over thirty years instead of ten times. $2,000 each time for six times equals $12,000, or $8,000 less in total reserves costs compared to a regular coating. In side-by-side comparisons done this way, Desert Crete® stands out as a premier deck coating to use on HOA decks.

While seemingly simple in design, Desert Crete® is a highly researched and field-tested metal lath based cementious coating utilizing the latest advances in polymer modified cements. This new technology offers HOAs a bright alternative to waterproof their decks and potentially save thousands of dollars in reserve costs while doing so.

Thanks go to Dave DiBaggio of Masterseal for his assistance with this article. Dave was the sales representative for nine years with Hill Brothers, the manufacturer of Desert Crete.

The author has spent time researching various deck coatings and comparing their manufacturer's maintenance schedules with each others. These recommendations by manufacturer's are averages and may not reflect all real life conditions; only inspections and time will define reseal schedules, wear and tear will define replacement schedules.

This article was written to support my Powerpoint presentation at ECHO's annual seminar in 2005 for the Maintenance Module Seminar Series, moderated by Ken Kosloff. ECHO usually shies away from product presentations, however, they made sort of an exception with this article as the argument and logic is sound. The article was printed in their annual seminar book and later appeared in ECHOJournal, their monthly magazine. It has also appeared in CAI's Channel Islands Chapters magazine; Channels of Communication.

CLICK HERE to read "Deck Coatings and Their Care"