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Deck Stain Stripping Questions and Answers
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Topic starter
06/07/2019 9:15 am
Help... I have a pressure treated deck (12x15) that we just hired someone to stain. First, we spent two days power washing, two days sanding with an orbital sander, and got it all prepped to go. It looked like it was just built. We used Valspar one coat semitransparent stain and sealer in one (water based). The man who stained the deck is licensed and insured and had assured us he knew what he was doing. We asked for white spindles and rails and a dark color deck boards, underneath, and lattice.
Our deck has been ruined. He first put the dark stain on the floor boards, lattice, and all underneath. He came back the next day and used a sprayer to spray the white on the spindles and rails. He sprayed from the outside of the deck in and did not tarp or cover nearly enough of our deck and staircase. He got this stain everywhere! It is now all on top of the dark stain. He had us buy 10 gallons of paint for this size deck because he said he could cover it with the dark stain and it would be fine. We asked him not come come back and our entire project is ruined.
We had a deck professional come over to offer some help and it is going to cost us a small fortune to fix with having to hire out again to fix what has been done. I am heartbroken. My husband and I are willing to put the work in again to try to fix it. We bought DeckStrip stain stripper and a conditioner/brightener. The problem... even though it is freshly stained, it is incredibly difficult to get off with this stripper. We spray it, scrub it in, let it sit 15-20 minutes, brush again, and power wash, but it barely comes off. It looks like it may be damaging the wood between this whole procedure. We discussed getting a drum or belt sander to use, but don’t want to damage our wood. Please, help us. We worked so hard and now have to start all over again, but don’t know how. We are willing to work hard again to strip it or do whatever is needed, but don’t know what to do or if there’s anything that can be done to restore it completely.
Here are pictures of how our deck looked after we spent a ton of time prepping it and getting it ready to go. Then are the pictures of what has been done to our deck.
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This topic was modified 6 years ago by Jennedwards83
06/07/2019 1:08 pm
The only way to remove this is to power sand.
DECKSTAINHELP.COM See this for two-toned deck tips:
Topic starter
06/07/2019 3:51 pm
We just rented a drum sander with 36 grit and 60 grit paper. Is that what you mean? Can you explain a little of the process of using this sander to me? We’re going to start soon and are nervous about damaging the wood. Home Depot was very hesitant to even rent this out to me when I mentioned its for my deck.
Topic starter
06/07/2019 3:53 pm
We just rented a drum sander with 36 grit and 60 grit paper. Is that what you mean? Can you explain a little of the process of using this sander to me? We’re going to start soon and are nervous about damaging the wood. Home Depot was very hesitant to even rent this out to me when I mentioned its for my deck.
Topic starter
06/07/2019 5:23 pm
Thank you for helping us with this. The drum dander is working and getting the stain off!
1. How would you recommend to try to get the stain off the railings and the stairs?
2. After sanding with this, should we use an orbital sander in between the boards to try to get more hard to reach places?
3. In our pictures, the lattice has white spots/ blotches, but it’s hard to get that off. Would the brown stain cover it or would it sleep through? If they can do our same stain color in a solid rather than a semi transparent, should we paint the lattice just with the solid to cover the white marks?
4. What would you recommend to do next? Should we use a word conditioner or brightened? Wash down, let sit for how long before staining again?
5. We are going to work with the white posts, but many have drip marks on them or are incomplete. How would you make it more uniform or less obvious?
Thanks so much for all of your help!!!
07/07/2019 12:02 pm
1. Paint the railings with a solid stain. No need to sand those.
2. Yes.
3. Do the solid on the lattice.
4. Clean and brighten the sanded wood when done.
5. Spot sand the drip marks prior to using a solid stain.
See this for two-toned deck tips:
