I bought my dream house, now I need to sand it...

[richkline]

Hi,

About 18 months ago, I bought my dream house.  It's on Lake Tahoe in Nevada, and the only reason I looked at it was that the owner had pictures of his woodshop.  I told my wife, we can't afford it, but we need to look at it!  In the end, we did afford it, and now it's ours.  The house was designed by the father and built by the son (over three years), and there are no right angles in the house.  Everything is a hexagon.

Anyway, my next project is refinishing the deck.  Here's what I know.  We are in Nevada, and it snows and is cold in the winter.  I also know that the previous owner used paint Not Available in California.  According to him, "The good stuff."

The deck is about 500 sq ft. (not small), and most of it looks like the pictures.

I own all the sanders...  RO90, RO125, RAS115.04, RS2, ETSEC125 (with both the 125 and 150MM pads) with a CT26 ready to go.  I also have a 4" Porter Cable Belt sander.

How would you attack sanding this deck?  I also have a pressure washer, but I'm concerned about having all the paint fly into the woods and ultimately to the lake.

All thoughts appreciated!

Rich

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[oberlin1]

Trex.  You will cry once but it will be done forever...and you can address the gaps.

 

[rmwarren]

I have a ~700SF PT deck that was in similar condition, we'd used a semi-transparent stain that was peeling. Rented the large floor belt sander from HD and spent a day wrestling it around and perhaps 8 belts to get back to raw wood.

I little hand work on my knees with a sanding pad on 4-1/2" grinder and it was done. I was whipped for a week afterwards but it was worth the effort.

Dream view you have there!

RMW

 

[Peter_C]

^Same I would rent a sander for flooring. Nails and screws can be a problem though. How many square feet? I use Superdeck Duckback in a custom color on our painted deck which is one of the better paints, but even still it needs to be pressure washed and repainted every 4 years, but my redwood deck is very old and dry.

Beautiful view, but if it is was me I would start dropping trees for fire prevention, which would also give a better view. If you ever rebuild the deck switch to non flammable materials too. We almost lost our house to fire, and fire is one of my largest concerns. Plus I self insure my tools and equipment as insurance only covers $3,000, and an over rider policy would be thousands a year.

 

[Ron B]

I always wondered if the Festool drywall sander would work on a deck, or is it too light?? 

 

[cpw]

I have a 42x12' deck.  After the first time power washed and painted it with the Behr deck paint.  It started flaking off the horizontal surfaces the next year.  I got it back to bare wood with an angle grinder and 3M Sandblaster pads, this wasn't cheap and was a lot of work, but did work well.  Safety glasses and long sleeves are a must.

After getting it down to bare wood I covered with Arborcoat custom tinted to match the failed paint, which lasts several years without any flaking; and have now recoated the surface twice and the spindles once.

Our next deck will be Trex or another composite.

 

[guybo]

I always wondered if the Festool drywall sander would work on a deck, or is it too light??

remember this see the reply right after yours #13https://www.festoolownersgroup.com/festool-wish-list/deck-sander/

 

[Mike Goetzke]

Ha - forget the deck how about some pics of the woodshop?

 

[twistsol1]

I just did this on an 800 sq ft cedar deck in Superior WI at my daughters house. Hours with an RO150 and managed about 25 square feet total. Rent a deck sander. The one we got weighed around 125 pounds and were able to do the entire deck in about 10 hours.

Use the smaller sanders on the rails  and stairs.

If you are in a windy area, do no use Trex until you search for the Trex Howl. We live on a bluff in southern Minnesota and every time the wind kicks up over about 15 MPH, it sounds like ships coming into dock in our back yard. It is loud enough to wake the neighborhood. We've been able to minimize it with rugs on the deck.

 

[richkline]

[member=78000]twistsol1[/member] thanks for the heads up on the Trex.  My contractor just suggested TimberTech AZEK, I wonder if they have the same problem.  We regularly get 30+ mile an hour winds off the lake

Here's a fun video of the house, it has a picture of the shop as it was and I'll post the Festool upgrade photo below.  There's so much storage that my 30 systainers are all in cabinets![attachimg=1]

 

[rmwarren]

Aww that's just unfair. My entire shop would fit inside the cabinets...

Enjoy!

RMW

 

[twistsol1]

Absolutely stunning home. Those views beat the heck out of my Mississippi River Valley view.

Nice shop space also.

 

[Peter_C]

Love the fact they didn't blast the rocks out but instead incorporated the granite Stunning views all around.

Now you just need to find a new place to park the cars and take over the whole garage as a shop. 

 

[thudchkr]

[member=78000]twistsol1[/member] thanks for the heads up on the Trex.  My contractor just suggested TimberTech AZEK, I wonder if they have the same problem.  We regularly get 30+ mile an hour winds off the lake

Might also take a look athttps://www.advantagelumber.com/ .  I’ve been pricing out decking materials for a client and can get most of their decking varieties cheaper than I can get the desired Trex. And if one goes with Ipe, (the one decking more expensive than the Trex), it has a fire rating similar to steel and/or concrete.

 

[Peter Kelly]

Looks like you're near South Lake? Conveniently close to the Stagecoach Lodge entrance to Heavenly. Great choice.

 

[richkline]

Looks like you're near South Lake? Conveniently close to the Stagecoach Lodge entrance to Heavenly. Great choice.

You are correct and have a great eye.  15 minutes to the lift.

 

[jeh]

Trex.  You will cry once but it will be done forever...and you can address the gaps.

Trex is not a solution to a home with that view. Need to stick with real wood and refinish it occasionally. Do it right and it will last well more than three years. 

 

[Peter Kelly]

An old friend has a place just up the road from you in Glenbrook so I'm pretty familiar with that side of the lake. Similar views to yours. 

 

[richkline]

So I spoke to the original owner.  The wood is heart redwood from 1980.  He replaced boards as necessary due to rot from the water on the upper deck falling onto the lower deck

He originally used translucent stain but switched to the solid "when the translucent wasn't working anymore"  I wasn't able to really understand what that meant.

It also sounds like without reinforcing the deck I can't switch to trex (or similar) as my joists are 33" on center.  They are 4" X 8" beams more than joists but I guess that's a requirement for that stuff.

I have a painting contractor coming who says you will ruin the deck if you use a big deck sander so he's going to quote a "this old house" kind of restoration.  Not sure I will go that route, and I might grab my RO125 and see how hard it is to get down to bare wood.

Rich

 

[jeh]

So I spoke to the original owner.  The wood is heart redwood from 1980.  He replaced boards as necessary due to rot from the water on the upper deck falling onto the lower deck

He originally used translucent stain but switched to the solid "when the translucent was working anymore"  I wasn't able to really understand what that meant.

It also sounds like without reinforcing the deck I can't switch to trex (or similar) as my joists are 33" on center.  They are 4" X 8" beams more than joists but I guess that's a requirement for that stuff.

I have a painting contractor coming who says you will ruin the deck if you use a big deck sander so he's going to quote a "this old house" kind of restoration.  Not sure I will go that route, and I might grab my RO125 and see how hard it is to get down to bare wood.

Rich

You are right about Trex. I think you need 12" on center and even then you might still see some flex. Keep the wood it is the right thing to do. That redwood once cleaned up is going to look infinitely better than Trex, which is basically the vinyl siding of decking.