# Stripping and restaining a deck



## Beebers (Sep 30, 2010)

I was wondering if anyone would have opinions on what would be the best way to tackle restaining and stripping a deck. Here's the catch, of course my water runs on a well, I don't think power-washing is in my future. Both the amount of water it would take and the location of the deck to where my water source originates are completely not logical to go this route. That being said, a chemical stripper would be a stretch as it is close to my pond and I wouldn't want to riddle my fish with caustic chemicals. So what would be a good route to go with this? The deck is painted a tired/drab gray and has chipped off nearly 50% of the entire surface. If I just sand the thing would it be enough to get the paint off? Are there other options? I would really like to restain and seal it but I can't figure what would be the best way.


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

Is it painted or stained? Sounds like you've already found your method since you can't power wash or chemically strip. A big floor sander should take it down evenly. You'll need a belt sander for the edges though. You'll want to go across the entire deck and either run in the screws a bit more or countersink any nails. Unless its screwed from below. Just if the sander reveals any fasteners it will shred the sanding disc and maybe wreck the pad holding it.


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## Jokarva (Jan 17, 2010)

http://doverprojects.blogspot.com/2009/04/refinishing-pressure-treated-deck.html

This guy did what you want to do, his deck looks pretty good.

We sanded our deck, floor sander on deck floor and orbital on rails. Spindles were replaced. Still splotches of the old paint/stain, but it looks much better.

We used respirators and goggles during the sanding. It was a lot of work but it was worth it.


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## kaitala (Mar 24, 2011)

Check out a product called "Deck Restore" at home Depot. I haven't used it yet, but will on my mom's old tired deck. It coats with a rubbery type coating, like a rhino liner. You can custom-tint it any color, and it fills in gaps, cracks, etc. I'm guessing scraping off the old peely paint would be your prep work. Nice, too, is that it will be soft on the feet, no splinters, and provide traction when wet.


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## Maverick_mg (Mar 11, 2010)

I do a lot of painting and have done and been asked to do decks in the past. There is a striper by jomax that is easy to use and it breaks down in the ground. it would be the easiest because deck stain doesn't work like wood stain, so even if you sand it, it might not remove all of the stain. Deck stain soaks into the wood so even if the decks looks crapy, it could still be "protected". Power washing is one of the worst things you can do to you deck cause it kill the surface of the wood and wont hold a stain for very long. Thats why some people end up staining their decks every year. If you poor a little water on you deck and it beads up, then the deck is still "protected" and wont take a stain. Strip the deck and then look at the surface of the wood. If it looks like the end of paint brush it should be sanded before you stain it. I use the cabot stains and have had good luck with them. Also most deck stains do not want you to do more then one coat so read the back of the can. When you get more then one coat on then you could have issues with it drying. It could stay tacky or peel of by next year. Hope this helps, sorry its so long


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## barnyardgal (Sep 21, 2009)

I second what Ross said about renting a sander if you don't have one...I have a friend who sanded the deck then restained it and it looks like new...it don't take as long as ya think to sand one either,of course depending on how big the deck it..his was 16 x 30 times 2 on both sides of the house..


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