Deck stripping, sanding and re-staining in High Bar Harbor

What owners tend to describe

• Composite decking with black spotting that a hose will not shift
• Green slick on the north side of the deck that is genuinely slippery when wet
• A stain that is peeling in sheets on the sunny half and still sound on the shaded half

Why this comes up in High Bar Harbor

Here is what makes High Bar Harbor particular: this is bay water, not ocean, and it behaves differently. Salt load on the siding is lower than the ocean blocks but the humidity is far higher, the lots are sheltered from wind, and the growth that results is green and living rather than white and crusted. Marsh silt arrives with every high-water event and settles on everything low.

Almost entirely waterfront: single-family homes on lagoon lots, most with a dock, a bulkhead and very often a boat lift. A mix of raised 1960s and 1970s ranches and much newer replacements built up to current flood elevations.

What access looks like here

One road in and out, narrow lagoon streets, and a bulkhead line at the back of most lots. Anything on the water side is reached from the dock or through the house, and the tide decides when the low work can be done at all.

Coating work needs a permit through Long Beach Township, and no municipality in New Jersey will issue one to an unregistered contractor.

How it is normally done

On a wood deck the honest sequence is strip, neutralise, sand and re-coat, and skipping the sanding is why so many re-stains fail in one season. On composite the job is different: the black spotting is usually mould growing in the surface texture, and it wants a low-pressure treatment, not a pressure washer, which will permanently stripe the boards. Ask which one you have before anyone quotes it — plenty of island decks are a wood frame with composite boards and a wood rail.