Help With finishing my old wood deck.

[dragonballz]

Our wood deck was painted or stained before we bought the house. We neglected it for over a decade.

This is what it looks like with the paint/stain (bottom half of picture).

I pressure washed the old paint/stain off. This is what it looks like.

As you can see, it is very hard to get 100% of the old paint/stain off with a power washer. Will it be noticeable if I just stain/solid stain over it? How about the old paint still on the old nail heads?

I plan on sanding with a handheld sander, too.

Any tips, hints? I have no experience with wood or wood finishing other than screwing wood to other wood.

 

[Fixnfly]

Does not look like much paint is left, what about using some paint stripper around the nail heads and hard to get areas?

 

[Disney]

How much deck are we talking? It might be better to just replace the wood floor.

 

[Troutsqueezer]

As long as the wood is not rotten, I think you're in fine shape. Putting some solid stain on it will cover just fine. Part of the appeal of wood decks is the grain and cracks showing a bit if you ask me. Rustic.

 

[dragonballz]

The area is about 25' x 20'.

I really dont want to replace the decking. I am lazy.

Does solid stain look like paint? Or does the grain show through?

I thought about paint stripper... But again, i am lazy and i dont want to go through the whole deck again haha.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[22velocity]

A few weeks ago my son and I refinished my 20x15 deck. This is the second time that I have put a solid stain on the decking. I am able to get four years out of Wolmans durastain before I have to redo it again. Once you use a solid stain it is almost impossible to get all of the stain off and go back to a semi- transparent stain. We tried in June using several coats of a stain stripper and in between powerwashing it, Then we followed up with a 12x18" square buff orbital floor sander that we rented from Home Depot. If I had it to do over again. I would not use a solid stain. If I were you, your wood looks to be in pretty good shape, I would use either a belt sander or a square buff sander to get the remaing stain off, be sure to countersink your nails first. The sander preps the wood to really grab the stain. Either a timberoil with a tint or a semi transparent wood look good. Frank

 

[dragonballz]

A few weeks ago my son and I refinished my 20x15 deck. This is the second time that I have put a solid stain on the decking. I am able to get four years out of Wolmans durastain before I have to redo it again. Once you use a solid stain it is almost impossible to get all of the stain off and go back to a semi- transparent stain. We tried in June using several coats of a stain stripper and in between powerwashing it, Then we followed up with a 12x18" square buff orbital floor sander that we rented from Home Depot. If I had it to do over again. I would not use a solid stain. If I were you, your wood looks to be in pretty good shape, I would use either a belt sander or a square buff sander to get the remaing stain off, be sure to countersink your nails first. The sander preps the wood to really grab the stain. Either a timberoil with a tint or a semi transparent wood look good. Frank

Thanks for the tips. As far as looks, whats the difference between solid stain and paint? Able to see the grain through the solid stain?

Btw, my deck was wet in OP pics. It really is splintery when dry.

 

[22velocity]

Solid stain is more like a paint, it lays on the surface. The solid stain is thinner than paint and will not last as long. when the time comes to refinish your deck,the solid stain does spread easily.

 

[dragonballz]

When the time comes to refinish with solid stain again, do I just spread it on top of the old solid stain? Or do I have to go through the whole pressure wash, sand, etc etc?

 

[theoldwizard1]

When the time comes to refinish with solid stain again, do I just spread it on top of the old solid stain?

Yes, as long as you aren't changing the color a lot. Stripped bare like you have it might take 2 coats.

 

[dragonballz]

Yes, as long as you aren't changing the color a lot. Stripped bare like you have it might take 2 coats.

Thanks. It's 99% stripped and almost ready to stain. We've decided to go with a brownish-red color for solid stain.

Whats you guys' opinion on Thomsons Water seal for the underside: joists, beam, and posts? My deck is 4-5 feet above ground.

 

[Zeke]

Solid stain IS paint for all intents and purposes. It has a bit more pigment and should have a higher ratio of acrylic resin than paint. It is dull or flat in appearance. It is not necessarily thinner than paint but both will show the grain. In fact, both won't fill in that checking in the deck lumber.

If I had that deck I'd be experimenting with elastomeric for several reasons. First, splinters. Then preservation. A nice fresh solid appearance would look nice too. It doesn't hurt to treat the bottom as well. Just some sealer if nothing else.

But some of those materials can be as expensive as new wood.

 

[dragonballz]

Solid stain IS paint for all intents and purposes. It has a bit more pigment and should have a higher ratio of acrylic resin than paint. It is dull or flat in appearance. It is not necessarily thinner than paint but both will show the grain. In fact, both won't fill in that checking in the deck lumber.

If I had that deck I'd be experimenting with elastomeric for several reasons. First, splinters. Then preservation. A nice fresh solid appearance would look nice too. It doesn't hurt to treat the bottom as well. Just some sealer if nothing else.

But some of those materials can be as expensive as new wood.

Thanks for the reply.

Is elastomeric the same as the "Restore" and "4x" type products? I will google after i post this.

Splinters arent too bad. I ripped most of them off. I sanded the little fuzzies off. Nobody walks on our deck barefoot anyway.

 

[James-W]

One of the guys I used to work with has a deck, it came with the house he bought. The previous owners did not take care of the deck and it was in pretty bad shape. The floor boards were not rotten, at least most of them weren't, but he did have to replace a few feet from a couple of them.

The boards were screwed down so he made sure the heads of the screws were under the surface of the wood a little ways, then he rented a floor sander. The sander cleaned the floor boards up really well and made them all really smooth. Once that was done he used an air-compressor and blew off all the sawdust, then he used a light colored stain and it really soaked into the wood. He ended up giving it two coats in most places, and three coats in a few spots. For some reason certain boards really sucked up the stain, almost like a sponge. That seemed to work out well for him, perhaps it would work good for you too.