questions on refinishing a wood porch

[Josef Brandauer]

Hello everybody-

I'm planning on redoing the finish on my front porch (wood floor, columns). It's approx. 300 sq. feet. I would say that this porch floor has a few more years in it, and then it's probably time to replace it.

The paint is chipping at the edges (where it gets rained on) and at the columns, and some of the columns (original to the house I believe, so approx. 100-years old) have developed shallow cracks since last year. Here's my idea of progressing, along with my questions. Any recommendations are appreciated.

1: cover surrounding area with plastic (probably some lead paint present there)
2: attach scraper to shop vac, scrape loose paint
3: chemical stripper
4: scrape off paint, hose off, let dry
5: orbital sander
6: vacuum
7: clean vents for columns, seal cracks
8: stain/paint (see below)

Does this progression make sense? Here are questions I have:

- Is a chemical stripper necessary? Any recommendations on products?
- Recommendations on grit for the orbital sander?
- Recommendations for products for sealing the columns? I was thinking about working in a 5-min epoxy and sanding it down. Not sure if that's the best route.
- Any recommendations on primers/paint/stains/sealants? previous paint is gray 'porch' paint - it doesn't look good, but I'm sticking with it for simplicity's sake. I don't think I can get all the gray out of the cracks in order to stain and polyurethane it. (I have a Sherwin-Williams nearby.)
- What'd i forget?

I realize this is a lot of questions - thanks for your help! Any advice is appreciated.

[Steve Schoene]

Since you are repainting, not staining, the chemical stripper isn't absolutely necessary, but usually it is faster and easier than sanding unless most of the old paint is well adhered. Porch paint will be more durable that stain followed by any clear finish, though if you do remove virtually all the old paint, you could use deck stains instead of paint. The stains don't last as long as paint, but they basically wear away so recoating is a much easier job over stain than over failing paint.

[Rich Engelhardt]

- Recommendations on grit for the orbital sander?

None - an orbital sander just won't do it if you want to remove old paint down to bare wood or even down to a known good layer.
A belt sander is more aggressive & a disk sander is better yet.

- Harbor Freight has a synthetic disk sander on sale right now for $39.00. Replacment pads run about $10.00.
- Wagner has what they call their "Paint Eater". I picked up one at Menards last week on sale for $49.00 (after markdown and rebate). Lowes has the same thing for about $70.00. Replacment pads run about $15.00. Quality is typical Wagner.....<--which means you pay your money, you take your chances... (more on this below)

Both of these use coarse synthetic (~ 24 grit) disks - think Scotch Bright pads on steroids.

- Next up is the Porter Cable (7503) offering for about $300.00 - give or take $100. The 7403 takes carbide disks. For such a small job, you might want to look into renting one.

(more about the Wagner)
I've done a few painted decks in the last few years. I sit down on one side otdeck and my wife sits on the other. I take a couple of belt sanders w/36 grit belts and alternate between the two. When one gets too hot, we set it aside and use the other.
We play the sander out by the cord and guide it back and forth. About every fourth pass (about 8 6" wide by 12 foot long boards) I change the belt.
Don't laugh,,,but,,it's the best way I've found to do it.

Anyhow - it's a long tedious hot process. Thinking there has to be a better way, but, cheaper than the PC, I picked up the Wagner and tried it out last Sunday on a 50 year old picnic table. (probalby God only knows how many layers of old paint/stain were on it.)
It worked as advertised. It is much faster than a belt sander and doesn't remove the wood underneath. It does generate an enormous amount of fine dust. I did about 6 sq feet and was covered with reddish brown dust.
The other thing it did was try to "run away & scoot across the surface". It takes a fair amount of effort to keep it flat on the surface. There is a little bit of a learning curve.
It's very similar to using a decent floor polisher. The little Wagner has a lot of torque. I'm not real sure my wife could control it. Not that she's a weakling or anything - I just feel she's going to try it, have it get away from her, and just tell me it's "my tool and if want it used, then I'm the one that's going to use it"..

Anyhow - anyhow - "Wagner" qualiy is just what you read into it. Wagner makes home owner oriented products, but, once in a while they slip in something that's borderline "pro".
IMHO - the Paint Eater @ $50.00 is about the right price. Normal street price of $70.00 is way too high. I'd pass and pick up a Harbor Freight one for $40.00 on sale.

HTH - & I feel your pain...painted decks are just plain miserable...


Oops forgot a few things...

Re: lead. I really kind of doubt there is any. If (and it's a big if), whoever painted in in years past stuck with Porch and Floor paint (enamel), then there hasn't been any lead in those paints for nearly 75/80 years. When alkyd resins were invented in the mid 1920's, they stopped using lead/oil for most porch and floor paints. Lead is too soft.
Gray is a pretty safe bet that it's lead free. Tile Red or Tile Green OTOH - may have lead.
Lowes and HD carry a lead testing kit for about $10.00 so you can test it to see.

The colums probably do have lead paint on them at some level if they are 100 years old.

For 300 sq. feet & considering the amount of work involved in redoing the floor - I believe I'd take a long hard look at tearing out all the old and putting down something like Trex.
A lot depends on budget/historical desire. 100 year old is probably all T&G. I lean a lot towards keeping the history and would probably go overboard in that direction to keep the T&G if that's what it is.