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Deck Stain Stripping Questions and Answers
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Topic starter
15/05/2026 11:12 pm
Hello DeckStainHelp Community - I am looking to start stripping the existing wood stain to my deck and wood beams/columns. The deck is under a overhang roof. The under part of the roof is stained wood, which I wasn't planning to strip, but just protect while I strip the rest of the wood. Looking over the job, I am thinking that it would be best to strip everything and then restain. I have stripped the deck and restained 2x before, but never restained the wood columns/beams. They are looking worn and need to be redone for aesthetics and bug protection. What is the best approach to protect the vinyl siding and if I wanted to protect the wood roofing? I am not the original owner, but the deck was last stained with Defy waterbased wood stain. The beans are a rough wood with a oil based stain. Recommendations for stain strippers? Stripper for the wood deck ceiling if I strip it? I assume the wood ceiling is stained with an oil based stain, can I clean the wood and apply a light 2nd coat without stripping? I am planning to use Armstrong-Clark wood stain. We live in West Michigan.
17/05/2026 2:25 pm
Leave the ceiling as is, but you will need to cover it well to protect it during the stripping process. It will be easier to do this than trying to strip the ceiling fully, as it is shiny like varnish, which will make it extremely difficult to strip. The reason to cover it is that the stripper may spot the appearance.
For the rest, just strip and brighten with the RAD kits and use both additives for the stripper.
Topic starter
17/05/2026 5:13 pm
Hi Scott - Thanks for the feedback and the great website. I have been reading and watching videos all weekend. Another questions I had was should I use a cleaner on the beans and posts and just reapply stain and for the deck surface - strip and restain? I am not changing the stain color to the beans/posts.
Topic starter
26/05/2026 4:26 pm
I was able to strip the deck and posts, while protecting the wood ceiling. Most of the Defy WB stain came up from the deck surface using strippers(1x with Defy Stripper & 1x with RAD+additive).
Some stain remained so decided to sand the deck to remove the rest of the finish and give it a consistent look. I started to sand after 24 hrs and was able to remove the stain, but noticed that the wood was darkening where I sanded. I assume I was slightly burnishing the wood because of moisture content? I was using a Bosch circular orbital sander with 60 grit and then tried my Black & Decker vibratory rectangular sander with a 60 grit. When standing there was not gumming of the wood into the paper.
Looking over the website, I see now I need to wait 48 hrs before sanding, so I assume the wood had too much water content. I am going to give it another day to dry before trying to sand. For the area that I already sanded, I assume I will need to resand (60 then 80?) to remove the darkening? After sanding, the website says to lightly clean and brighten. Do I use my RAD brightener as this will have another water cycle to wash off the brightener and then waiting 48 hrs to stain.
In the attached picture, the bottom boards going vertical in the picture where sanded. The top boards where stripped (still with some stain), but have not been sanded.
Thanks, Mike
