Just spent an hour prepping the front porch deck -- Shop-Vac, then go over inch-by-inch with wire brush and vac, digging into the vee-groove joints to remove dirt, maple and ash seeds, sunflower seeds stashed by the chickadees, dead earwigs and live spiders, you name it. Then vacuum the whole thing a third time.
Things my daddy never warned me about. But I think I can understand why they sold off the ancestral mansion when Grannie died...