Patio or Deck: outdoors, on a clock the indoor rooms never feel

The 6 micro zones

A micro zone is one session, not a whole day. Finish one before you start the next.

Added together, the 6 sessions below come to about 4.5 to 7.5 hours for the whole patio or deck. That is not one long day. Each session finishes on its own, so stopping after the first still leaves the room better than it was.

Start here. Do the Surface, Rail, and Safety Zone first, on a dry morning, before you touch a single cushion. If the boards and the railing are not sound, everything you arrange on top of them is decoration.

1. 
   The Outdoor Seating Zone (45-75 min)
   Seats people can drop into without checking them first, with the cushions kept dry.
2. 
   The Grill and Outdoor Cooking Zone (60-90 min)
   Cook over fire without leaving the grill to find a tool or wondering if there is gas.
3. 
   The Outdoor Dining Zone (30-45 min)
   Feed people outdoors without carrying the kitchen out in four trips.
4. 
   The Garden and Plant Care Zone (45-75 min)
   Keep the containers alive and keep everything that feeds them off the ground and out of reach.
5. 
   The Outdoor Storage Zone (45-75 min)
   Get the cushions under a lid within a minute of the first drop of rain.
6. 
   The Surface, Rail, and Safety Zone (45-75 min)
   The structure you stand on and lean against, kept sound and kept clear.

Illustrations of each zone finished. Not photographs of real homes.

The kit for the whole patio or deck

Every zone below draws from this. These are types of thing, not brands, and anything you already own that does the job is the right one to use. Each zone page names the smaller list that zone actually needs.

• Grill grate scraper or coiled brush Scrape carbonised residue off cooking grates without shedding bristles, in the Shine and Safety passes. Bristle-free by design. A wire brush that sheds a bristle onto a grate can put it into food, which is why this type replaces one rather than supplementing it. Retire any brush whose bristles pull free by hand..
• Long-handled deck scrub brush Scrub decking boards and stair treads from standing height, in the Shine pass. Stiff enough for algae film, soft enough not to raise the grain on softwood. Work with the grain of the boards..
• Fabric-safe outdoor cushion cleaner Clean outdoor cushion and canopy fabric without stripping its water resistance, in the Shine pass. Never mix with any other cleaner. Test on a hidden seam first. Cushions must dry all the way through before they go back under a lid..
• Garden hose Float loose grit off outdoor furniture, decking, and pots before any cleaner is applied, in the Shine pass. Drain and disconnect before the first frost. Never run a hose across the walking route between the door and the steps..
• Stiff scrubbing brush Scrub caked mud and salt out of a boot tray, a bin, or an outdoor surface, in the Shine pass. Work outdoors where the run-off goes to ground rather than into a household drain.
• Push broom Sweep a slab or hard floor in a single pass to hold a degreased surface, in the Shine and Sustain passes. Hang head-up on a rail; bristles resting on concrete splay and re-soil the floor they touch.
• Reusable or disposable nitrile gloves Protect hands during cleaning and sorting, in the Shine and Safety passes. Use per product label.
• Food-area degreaser Remove grease from cooking and prep zones, in the Shine pass. Rinse food-contact surfaces.
• Small detail brush set Clean seams, tracks, corners, and hardware, in the Shine pass. Use surface-safe bristles.
• Impact-rated safety glasses Protect eyes during garage and workshop resets, in the Safety pass. Use rated protection appropriate to task.
• Color-coded microfiber cloth set ×12 Wipe, dust, and dry surfaces, in the Shine pass. Wash by use color; avoid fabric softener.
• Neutral pH multi-surface cleaner Routine cleaning of sealed surfaces, in the Shine and Sustain passes. Verify surface compatibility; lock around children and pets.
• Compact vacuum with attachments Remove dust, crumbs, and debris, in the Shine pass. Use appropriate attachment.
• Keep, Relocate, Donate, Recycle, Trash container set ×5 Support rapid item routing during Sort, in the Sort pass. Do not block exits.
• Portable cleaning caddy Transport and contain cleaning inputs, in the Straighten, Shine and Sustain passes. Secure chemicals from children and pets.
• Portable label maker Create durable standardized labels, in the Standardize and Sustain passes. Follow surface and adhesive guidance.
• Removable write-on labels Create temporary or adjustable visual controls, in the Standardize pass. Test on delicate finishes.

For this room

• Cleaning note. Out here, cleaning is how you inspect. You will never spot a popped fastener, a soft board end, or a spider web in a burner tube while sitting in a chair. You spot them with a brush in your hand and your face close to the thing.
• The trap. The trap is storing things outdoors that cannot live outdoors. A cushion left out overnight in dew, a cardboard box inside the deck box, a bag of charcoal resting on the ground: each is fine for a week and ruined by autumn. If it cannot take a night of rain, it belongs behind a door.

The patio or deck deck

The same zones as a deck of 68 cards you can read here or print: what each zone is for, the frictions people actually report in it, the root cause behind each one, and the timed action that clears it. Free, no account. Read the patio or deck deck.

The other rooms

The same six passes, room by room. Every one of these is broken into its own micro zones.

All 20 rooms and 114 micro zones on one page

Related reading

• How long this room actually takes
• Where to start if the whole room feels like too much
• What is a micro zone?