This summer, John Princiotta predicts, stock market woes and soaring gas prices mean that people will spend less time traveling and more time at home on their decks. Which is good news for the Boxborough-based painter, who over the last five years has made deck maintenance the focus of a business that serves clients from Cape Ann to Cape Cod.

Decks in New England have a hard life, says Princiotta, a fact which is only too apparent as crackling timbers, peeling paint and faded stain emerge from beneath the last remnants of grimy snow. On the basis of his experience with hundreds of decks, Princiotta has developed a simple but rigorous approach to the task of getting winter-worn wood back into shape for a summer of cookouts and cocktails.

"The key to a deck lasting is having it cleaned and protected," he says, and the first stage is proper cleaning. By cleaning properly, he emphasizes, he does not mean blasting indiscriminately with a high pressure hose. Power washing has its uses, he conceded, but it should be applied selectively to areas of stubborn dirt. "Some power power wash machines can make decks furry and splinter," he warns. Princiotta prefers a topical application of bleach and other cleaning agents which remove mold and mildew.

The next step is to apply a single coat of sealant or stain. Princiotta takes a dim view of 90 percents of the products marketed for deck finishing. "Nine out of 10 products just don't work," he claims, having been called in to rectify the unsatisfactory results of their use on scores of decks.

Unless a client insists on having a solid color, Princiotta will apply a single coat of clear or semitransparent water sealer, which is absorbed by the wood and leaves no residue. "If you put paint on your deck it will peel," he says. The majority of decks are made of pressure treated wood, that is, inexpensive pine impregnated with chemicals. Prolonged exposure to the sun ,makes the wood split, and as many deck owners find out the hard way, paint will not stick to split wood.

Colored stains, says Princiotta, are popular but need a lot of upkeep. Although homeowners tend to view decks as extensions of indoor living space, the wear and tear on a deck is much more severe than that on an interior hardwood floor. Colored stains will wear quickly in areas of heavy traffic, and the only way to restore the original appearance is to sand back down to bare wood and begin again.

Princiotta also warns against products with a heavy oil base, which over time will darken or even blacken the deck's timbers as they bake in the sun. "Fancy finishes are just not going to hold up," he says. "I've seen all the problems, and sometimes the only solution is to sand the deck down."

By the time they contact him, Princiotta estimates most people have experienced at least one of these problems. He prides himself on being able to fix anything that can go wrong with a deck, short of structural damage. He offers an annual maintenance plan, which for an average-sized deck costs around $500 in the first year and $275 in the second. If sealant is applied every year, as Princiotta strongly recommends, cleaning is free every other year. Visit www.princiottapainting.com for an overview of services available.

For new deck construction, Princiotta favors mahogany, cedar and fir, which all stand up to sun exposure better than pressure treated pine. He prefers solid timbers two-inches-thick by five-inches-wide to narrower, thinner planks which look more refined but wear less well.

"For years, would turn away decks," laughs Princiotta, remembering his years as a house painter when deck finishing was a minor part of his business. Now, weather permitting, he's booked solid from March through November. Home owners get to cross off an essential but time-consuming and messy maintenance job, and after years of perching on ladders, Princiotta gets to keep his feet on the ground, or at least on the deck.

Princiotta Paint Services can be reached at (978) 266-1341 or (781) 861-1661.