Refinishing a deck is a good DIY project with chemicals available at the local home centers. Although we use professional strength chemicals, mixed on site, Home Depot carries Behr Premium Stain & Finish Stripper that works well & Lowes carries Zinsser JOMAX Stain & Finish Stripper that also works well.

 Always read and follow the manufacturers directions before use. Failure to follow their instructions may lead to a botched job, cursing, tossed tools and personal injury or the death of someone that was to close to the tantrum.

                With the legal stuff out of the way, follow along as we strip and refinish a deck.

As you can see, this deck is in need of maintenance. We will start by stripping it.

A roller with an extension pole and a deck sprayer are our tools of choice for applying the stripping solution. You can use a roller tray to load the roller.

Apply an even coat of stripper following the instructions included with your product of choice. Allow ample dwell time but keep product moist by misting with water or reapplying stripper.

You may find multiple layers of stain. A quick reapplication of stripper & some more dwell time will get that off too.

Nothing to it but to do it. Let the chemical do the work and then wash away the stain. That is a 15 degree tip with an orifice to output 500 PSI on our machine. Use of high pressure will damage the wood. The different angles of the tips does not change the pressure. The tip orifice size is calculated by the horsepower and gallons per minute (HP X GPM) of the machine you are using. The tips supplied with your machine are designed to output the rated pressure on the machine. Low pressure tips are available from pressure washing specialty suppliers.

The surface is now stripped and ready to be neutralized and brightened. Use the product recommended by the stripper manufacturer.

Neutralizer has just been applied to the right side of the deck. The difference is well worth the extra step.

It is okay to work small areas. If it is a large deck you can take several days to do it. If the stripper dries before you wash the surface just reapply it.

Here it is , stripped, cleaned, brightened & neutralized. Most importantly, the surface is dry and ready to accept stain.

A word about vertical surfaces. If the finish is in good condition, you can recoat them 1 time. This railing was in good shape and we chose to strip only the top cap. Next time it will need to be stripped. We do the railing first and protect the deck surface from drips and spatter. You can use cardboard or a drop cloth.

Tools of choice for applying the stain include a brush, 9” roller, 5 gallon bucket to mix the stain in & a roller screen to fit the bucket.

Finished! OK not yet, still need to wait 72 hours before putting the furniture and barbeque back.

Would you rather be doing some thing more enjoyable? If you live in NEPA, call us 1 866 511 7446, we’ll take care of it for you..

Copyright © 2008

Rolf Qvaeschning Signs & Design

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