Pressure clean sand and stain outdoor deck

[indeed]

HI All , 

i am starting a DIY project on giving some life to my deck. 

i would appreciate any help i can get from this forum . 

its a Merbau deck (around 50 sqmts) and am keen to seek this forums advice .

where can i rent a pressure sprayer to first give it a good wash 

what sort of sand paper should i be using , coarse sanding (P40 sandpaper) or fine sanding (P280 sandpaper).

finally the water based paint to be applied ,  Intergrain 1L Water Based Cedar / Cypress UltraDeck ? is this the good =

[indeed]

After using 40 grit sand paper 

 

[MitchellMc]

Hi @indeed,

There is still a lot of colour difference, but I see your screws are quite proud on the surface already. I don't see a significant difference after the 40grit sanding, which is what I would have expected. You can either drive those screws in and continue sanding or try the Ultraprep product. Even if you apply the decking oil now it might look fine, it is just about getting the most uniform appearance before coatings as to not end up with a motley deck.

Mitchell

[indeed]

Hi Mitchell , 

 i did not find much of a difference using the 40 grit sand paper still thinking  if am got this correct . i shall be using the 80 grit sand paper tomorrow and see how it comes .

i have hired a floor sander and its quite difficult to do the edges with this and was wondering if i need a detail sander to get the edges done . if so which tool do you recommend to buy , i was thinking of Ozito product https://www.bunnings.com.au/ozito-200w-multi-sander-kit_p0048824

after using the 80 grit sand paper , will see the outcome and decide on the ultrprep product .

Thanks for your inputs .

[indeed]

Hi Mitchell , 

do you think i should try the ultraprep product incase the sanding does not work and i do agree with the screws they would need some work . am confused now , should i continue sanding with 80 grit sand paper or instead use the ultraprep deck cleaning to clean, and stain the deck . ignore sanding the deck for now . please let me know your suggestions .   

[MitchellMc]

Hi @indeed.

I'd personally be giving it another go with the 40grit and spending a bit more time on it. What sander are you using for this, is it a dedicated deck/flooring belt sander? 40grit sandpaper in a belt drive floor sander should be removing considerable amounts of timber. You need to spend some time on it, you do not want to sit in the same spot for too long and gouge a hole, but you also don't want to just skim over the deck. You are looking for a uniform colouring and generally will sand until you have penetrated through the mottled appearance.

You could also just do a test section with the oil in a corner and see what the appearance is like. If you are happy with the appearance then you can just oil the deck as is. The oil will partially disguise the mottled colouring, so you might find further sanding is not necessary.

Once you have a uniform colour to the deck I would then apply the Ultraprep to finish the job before oiling.

Here's a D.I.Y. guide on How To Sand A Deck, which you can see how they achieve a uniform colouring with fresh timber before proceeding.

Mitchell

[Jeanagh]

Thanks for this,  just about to do mine and here are the instructions 

[BradN]

Hi @Jeanagh, and welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's great to have you here.

I'm glad that you've been able to find the advice that you need.

Are you going to sand and stain a deck? I expect you saw @MitchellMc's link to our D.I.Y. guide on How To Sand A Deck. You might also like to look at this guide and video tutorial: How to restore a deck. 

Please don't hesitate to ask any questions. Feel free to start a discussion and keep us updated on your progress. We'd love to see some before and after photos.

Brad

[Jeanagh]

I put too many coats of stain on now its cracked and flaking, so I will take it all off then restain

[BradN]

Hi @Jeanagh. I'm sorry to hear that hear that you have a problem with your stain flaking. One of our resident D.I.Y. experts, @EricL, will be back on the site later today, and I'm sure he'll be able to give you some good advice.

Could you possibly post a photo of your deck and the flaking stain so that Eric can get a good look at it?

Brad 

[Jeanagh]