Sanding merbau

[chriswarr]

Hi, I have a merbau fence and balcony that are not looking too good.  I think the only way back is to sand it all back.  It's about 10 years old and I've always used feast-watson decking oil on it.  It's all peeling off now, I guess from leaving it too long in between and doing a poor job of preparation.  So, my question is do I just sand, or do I use any sort of stripper first?  Would this sander do the job?  https://www.bunnings.com.au/ryobi-800w-variable-speed-belt-sander_p6210386

photos of the boards here - https://photos.app.goo.gl/DJEQRGnKkbBA9wAA6

Cheers,

Chris.

[Jason]

Hi @chriswarr,

Welcome to Workshop and apologies for the slow reply.

Your project sounds similar to the situation I found myself a few years back before I tackled a deck renewal project. Hopefully you will find some tips in my posts. 

How big is your balcony? You will find using a belt sander pretty slow going if it's a large area - that's why I hired a floor sander, which was really quick and easy. Then I just used an orbital sander for the edges. No need for a stripper. 

Let us know the scale of your project and I can tag other members who might like to share their opinion. 

Thanks,

Jason

[chriswarr]

Hi Jason, problem I have is the balcony is a fence, so vertical boards, so couldn't use a floor sander unfortunately.  Here's a picture of the balcony, also have the fence to do as well.  https://photos.app.goo.gl/5D1LVvSYVZQAHn19A