Over the years, we’ve applied finishes to thousands of decks, and the edges of the boards have always been a problem. Usually there’s no quick, easy way to coat them unless we use a sprayer, but that can be a little messy. When we’re not spraying a finish and there’s limited space between boards, we’ve found that Padco’s Crack & Groove Tools (800.328.5513, padco.com) work great. Recently we used them to restore 60 benches along a boardwalk in Laguna Beach, Calif. The applicators have a two-sided woven pad mounted on a polypropylene handle. The hand-held model comes in both 2-inch and 6-inch widths; the 6-inch one (photo, near right) costs about $6 online. There’s also a pivoting version—called the Any Angle (photo, far right)—that can be fastened to a standard extension pole; it runs about $13 (without a pole).
Jim Grant is the proprietor of Jim The Deck Guy, in San Diego, Calif.
