Sanding a deck - Pt 2 -- DONE.

[Mitchell Andrus]

About a month ago I asked for suggestions for stripping the deck on the home SWMBO and I bought in NC. It is in good shape, only 15 years old but with a paint job that was in miserable condition. It's a little over 1,000 sf.

After 5 full days of work, it's done and looks like brand new. The railings were sanded to bare wood and painted. The balusters were power-washed and painted (airless). The deck was sanded down to wood and stained light gray (roller). I'm very happy someone invented airless sprayers.

I used a heavy floor sander with 25 and 36 grit paper for about 9 hours, and a 4x24 belt sander and a 4.5" angle grinder around the edges for another 6.

We closed on this place Sept 15... a year ago. It's REALLY nice to get this pebble out of my boot.


Body count: 37 wraps of paper around the sander's drum. 12 4x24" 36 grit belts. 22 50 grit 4.5" discs. 8 gallons of paint for the rails, 4.5 gallons of stain on the deck.

$502.00 and a LOT of sweat.
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[Jim Mattheiss]

Very nice Mitchell!

How much time did you spend setting nails, before and during the process?

I've used a 12 x 18 orbital sander to sand my 500 SF deck. Thank god it wasn't in as bad shape as yours. It's due (okay - overdue) to be redone - maybe next spring . . .

Cheers

Jim

[Bruce Page]

That looks like a lot of work but well worth the effort.
So, caterpillars’ aside, how are you liking the 'country'?

[Mike Archambeau]

Mitchell, that is a real transformation! The place looks great!

[Mitchell Andrus]

Very nice Mitchell!

How much time did you spend setting nails, before and during the process?



Very little. More than just a few needed pounding but I found if I set them too deep, I ended up with a bull's eye around it after sanding so I ended up setting any that were proud only just low. Most were deep enough to be no concern, some got polished and will likely get rusty. Oh well.
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[Mitchell Andrus]

That looks like a lot of work but well worth the effort.
So, caterpillars’ aside, how are you liking the 'country'?

My wife and still marvel at the quiet. We sit out at night, day, lunchtime.... and most of the time we can't hear any noise man-made.
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[Brian Elfert]

That deck looks like it is not pressure treated. You're lucky as PT likes to warp and twist with age when used as decking.

My parents built a deck in the early 80s with nails for the decking. It is warped and twisted like crazy. The nails are popping all over. They have replaced many of the nails with screws. They have also replaced some of the worst boards. It started having issues maybe 5 years after it was built.

[Dave Lehnert]

That deck looks like it is not pressure treated. You're lucky as PT likes to warp and twist with age when used as decking.

My parents built a deck in the early 80s with nails for the decking. It is warped and twisted like crazy. The nails are popping all over. They have replaced many of the nails with screws. They have also replaced some of the worst boards. It started having issues maybe 5 years after it was built.

I used PT decking with nails over 20 years ago and have not one issue. I used a name brand PT lumber from a real lumber yard.

[Mitchell Andrus]

That deck looks like it is not pressure treated. You're lucky as PT likes to warp and twist with age when used as decking.

My parents built a deck in the early 80s with nails for the decking. It is warped and twisted like crazy. The nails are popping all over. They have replaced many of the nails with screws. They have also replaced some of the worst boards. It started having issues maybe 5 years after it was built.

I honestly don't know... PT or not. I can tell you I smelled turpentine the whole time I was sanding. This is some really dense lumber.
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[Dick Strauss]

The deck looks great!

Southern Yellow Pine maybe?????