[PinnacleResidential]

A while back we decided to add sanding to our deck prep work. We start by using a oxygen cleaner w/ scrub brushes to remove heavy dirt & mildew. Then we power wash. After allowing 24 hours to dry, I hit the entire deck w/ 40 - 60 grit paper (depending on the wood) with a u-sand orbital floor sander. The dirtiest decks come out looking brand new after doing so. However, many clients and competing painters are shocked when they learn that we sand everything before staining. I was wondering how many of you sand before stain?

 

[tsunamicontract]

I sanded a redwood porch floor (covered) with a belt sander once to get out all the dog scratches. Looked great but it was so time consuming and dust creating. The last one I did I wish I could have sanded but the boards were so uneven, rough, and the screws were not always below the surface of the deck. The problem with the floor refinishers is they only work if they deck is in good condition anyways. It would work with dirty decks but not necessarily old decks IMO. How did the problems work out in your experience PIN?

 

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Any deck I have done (stipped and restained) has left furly's (a hairy surface)after the pressure wash and that required sanding. I have yet to just clean or just restain a deck. All mine have required stripping so far...

 

[tsunamicontract]

yah, when you strip you always get furs. I have been using grill scrubber type tools to defur, faster than sanding by far. I wish decks never had railings . . .
or at least spindles.

 

[PinnacleResidential]

I agree with the spindle comment. They are a real problem when sanding because I can't get any of my power tools under there so they have to be done by hand. Tsu, you are correct about decks that are too warped, however, even a deck that has some imperfections sands well w/ my floor sander. The u sand has four individual 6" orbital pads which makes it nice for decks because each of those pads lays just about perfectly on a single deck plank.

Stripping jobs, no question, we always have to sand. If a deck is in pretty good shape and just needs a quick cleaning before stain, then I won't bother bringing the sander out, however, in most cases the decks that we do w/o previous coatings are in pretty rough & dirty condition. Power washing gets most of the old dirt, mildew, and moss off but a quick sand afterwards makes the deck so smooth and uniform that the stain can't help but look perfect afterwards.