Best Festool way to refinish or repaint old deck

[Grasshopper]

OK, so I have "inherited" the assignment to refinish this deck (from my wife, so there is no turning down the job).  It appears to be poorly painted redwood, with no sign of primer.  Pictured below, you will see it is flaking up very badly.  I've pressure washed the deck to see what would shake loose, and it is not looking good.  (They guy who painted this a few years ago seemed to have a fuzzy recollection of what he used, but he thought it was a solid colored stain…which I find hard to believe as it is very flaky and looks like paint).

I've also photographed a section that I sanded using the ro90 and ro150, just to expose the wood underneath.  If I have to sand this, I think it would take a billion hours.

Should I:

A) use some chemical stripper (I bought JOMAX Stain and finish stripper just in case), power wash, scuff where needed, prime and repaint (basically requiring repainting for the rest of time)

B) bring down to bare wood (I'm all ears as to how), repair boards as needed and stain

C) other options?

If option "A", what products would you use?  I'm all ears here as I don't want to redo this in the foreseeable future.

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

 

[leakyroof]

I'm no Deck guy, but others here are. So, they'll want to know, how much square footage are we talking about. And why paint versus a stain or other finish?
From the picture , it doesn't look like paint, but I guess you could run some of your flakes down to a good paint store and see what they think.
Using a Rotex 150 on your knees will take time, but people here do it all the time.
You also could rent a floor sander and go at the largest areas that way, and use small sanders where the floor machine won't fit.

 

[Grasshopper]

Thanks for your reply.

There is around 700 sf of deck area.

I'd be concerned with a large sander as the boards are not all level, so I'd have to take a lot of material off to get it to sand down enough.

I'm definitely looking forward to what the deck guys do in cases like this.

 

[mkasdin]

How old is the deck? Any rot, cracks, or splitting. How does the joists look and the hand rails? Are they to the present code? The decking is nailed?

Pressure washer it again. I'm assuming you have your own 1,800 electric psi pressure washer? I would rent a more powerful GAS pressure washer like 3,600 psi. Just use a broader tip, reduce the power to whats needed, keep it moving and further away. I've prepped stucco for painting with a gas pressure washer. If you're not carefully you will tear into the wood.

Let it dry and then restain. I would probably do a light sanding with two grits prior to the stain/paint application? Do it on a corner and see how it looks. The floor sander is not a bad idea, but you still need to hit it with a hand sander.  Good luck.

 

[sancho57]

Depends if your gonna stain or repaint, if your gonna repaint, pressure wash, let dry, scrape the flake, peeling paint  sand , then repaint.

Bear in mind I'm no deck guy

 

[rizzoa13]

If it's paint it'll likely gum up any sander even the floor belt sanders. I'd try a paint remover that uses heat the break the bond. Get off as much as you can and then use a floor sander to flatten and prep it.

 

[Vondawg]

*I'd be concerned with a large sander as the boards are not all level, so I'd have to take a lot of material off to get it to sand down enough.

If it is redwood...a floor sander will flatten it down easily. The type with several orbital heads might work well

 

[Sparktrician]

I'd let the deck get as dry as possible, then use a Clark floor sander.  Before running the sander, I'd go over the entire deck with a hammer and nail set to be sure all the nail heads are below the surface of the wood so I don't tear up the sander belts.  The RO 150 and/or RAS 115 would take care of the areas inaccessible to the floor sander.

 

[tjbnwi]

Sodium hydroxide
http://www.superdeck.com/product/265/53/wood-stripper-1460

Sand once stripped.

Or;

P-3
http://www.superdeck.com/product/617/266/p-3-peeling-paint-primer-4475/

Tom

 

[mkasdin]

if you want to use a semi transparent stain then it will involve more prep and a solid stain/paint you can get away with less prep?
So you have 3 choices, pressure wash, sand or chemical strip and wire brush/scrape in any of these combinations. I would think depending on the chemicals this might cost the most upfront, but be the most effective. Not sure of the VOC levels (Material Safety Data Sheet) MSDS, but you are using it outdoors, I would still (use a light weight respirator) keep your face away from the stripper.

 

[Grasshopper]

Thanks for all the replies.

What a pain in the hiney!!!

I ended up trying to strip chemically. It was a huge mess and wasn't very effective for me (perhaps the previous owner used a stubborn paint...or more like 3 coats).

I moved on to a large floor sander, and 8 hours later, got 80% off.

The ro150, 40 grit paper made quick work of the touch up areas. My ro90 with the triangle head was invaluable for getting close to the house.

I'm in the home stretch!

I plan to stain with a semi-transparent stain. I'm thinking about using Penofin products.

My question now, is how would you go about getting the last little paint that sits BETWEEN the deck boards?

Thoughts?

 

[leakyroof]

Thanks for all the replies.

What a pain in the hiney!!!

I ended up trying to strip chemically. It was a huge mess and wasn't very effective for me (perhaps the previous owner used a stubborn paint...or more like 3 coats).

I moved on to a large floor sander, and 8 hours later, got 80% off.

The ro150, 40 grit paper made quick work of the touch up areas. My ro90 with the triangle head was invaluable for getting close to the house.

I'm in the home stretch!

I plan to stain with a semi-transparent stain. I'm thinking about using Penofin products.

My question now, is how would you go about getting the last little paint that sits BETWEEN the deck boards?

Thoughts?

  How tight is the spacing between the boards? 

 

[Grasshopper]

It ranges from 1/4" or so to around 1/2" gap between boards.

Thanks for all the replies.

What a pain in the hiney!!!

I ended up trying to strip chemically. It was a huge mess and wasn't very effective for me (perhaps the previous owner used a stubborn paint...or more like 3 coats).

I moved on to a large floor sander, and 8 hours later, got 80% off.

The ro150, 40 grit paper made quick work of the touch up areas. My ro90 with the triangle head was invaluable for getting close to the house.

I'm in the home stretch!

I plan to stain with a semi-transparent stain. I'm thinking about using Penofin products.

My question now, is how would you go about getting the last little paint that sits BETWEEN the deck boards?

Thoughts?

  How tight is the spacing between the boards?

 

[Stowe Boy]

Pictures?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Grasshopper]

See attached pictures:

Any thoughts for how to remove the last remaining paint from between the boards, (and some in the cracks on the face of the boards)?

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

 

[rst]

I used the extended pads on my RO 90 and LS 130 to get after the spaces on my adirondack chairs.  Worked quite well.

 

[clark_fork]

If you went Festool, you could lay down a track with a guide and push an old straight bit or some Harbor Freight bits in the gap. That would really clean up the edges.

Then again you could make up a tool like this:
http://www.gapwizard.com/

Or be happy with a round wire brush attached to a broom handle.

I am doing my deck this month and settled on SuperDeck 1460 as a starting point because my deck came with varnish which has not been responsive to pressure washing.  I had hoped the higher setting of my pressure washer would take care of the cleaning out the gaps. We will see.

Good luck.

 

[Bohdan]

Try a track saw on a rail set to just skim the edge of the decking.

 

[Holmz]

Would a wire brush and chemicals work?
...or...
It may look nice as a character feature?

 

[Grasshopper]

This is a great idea!!!!

Try a track saw on a rail set to just skim the edge of the decking.