Hello... I started a deck restaining project but not sure I'm doing it correctly, and I may actually be causing myself more work. So, I've stopped to get some advice.
Two years ago, I stripped my deck planks by sanding them to bare wood and then stained with semitransparent SW DeckScape. It looked good, but only two years later I have a few spots chipping / peeling away.
Since I restored the boards by sanding last time, I thought I'd just strip it down with chemicals this time and redo, but the stain is not coming off easily. So, I returned to the web to get some online help and now I think that maybe I didn't need to strip it at all.
** I thought I needed to strip because I put some tape down on those areas where it was chipping and pulled stain off**
I've completed about 1/10th of the deck. Should I continue stripping or just clean and restain it as is?
I intend to recover with DeckScape but a slightly different color (more brown than red).
Here's what it looks like (this is a pic of the 75% of the deck I haven't applied stripper to). I know I went a little too strong with the pressure washer because it's fusing up (I figured I was going to do a light sanding anyway so I didn't think it mattered).
Here's the 25% I stripped:
I'm using a mixture of Pressure Tek F18 stripper and 10% sodium hypochlorite applied with a pump sprayer. Let dwell approx 15 - 30 mins and rinse off at approx 1000psi. I also intend to use F8 Brightener / Neutralizer after my last round of F18.
QUESTIONS:
1. Should I stop stripping, finish cleaning the deck with SH, than only sand the boards I've already stripped and apply stain to the entire deck?
2. If I continue stripping, do I need to remove ALL the old stain? I'm reapplying same manufacture product and probably a little darker. (can I stain over what I've already stripped now, or does more of that old stain need to be removed?)
3. How concerned do I need to be about getting SH on glass? I don't want to etch my glass doors. I rinsed them before and after, but they're not saying wet long enough to prevent the overspray SH from getting on the glass and drying (hand pumping chemicals takes me a long time).
4. Lastly, if you guys recommend fully striping. What's the easiest way? I probably spend 30 hours sanding down those deck boards just two years ago. I'll swap them out with composite boards before working that hard on them again! I used a belt sander and orbital sander last time. I saw a product called Diamabrush that looks fast, but expensive and might not be too durable.
Any advice is GREATLY appreciated. Thank you!
You will not be able to strip this fully as what you have is not semi-transparent but solid color/opaque in appearance. They sold you an incorrect product if it was supposed to be semi-transparent. Your two options are to power sand it all off or recoat it with another solid stain.
Sir, you are right! It is Solid and I'm recoating with Solid. Thank you for the correction. It's also called SuperDeck, NOT DeckScape. I'll try to edit original post.
So, can I just recoat or do I need to strip?
Thanks.
Pressure wash off what is loose and then you can stain over the rest. Look at one of these brands: https://www.deckstainhelp.com/what-are-the-best-solid-color-deck-stains/