DIY – Refinishing a Wood Deck
Step 1: Clean the deck. This can be accomplished any number of ways, but the preferred method is using a pressure washer. You want to make sure the deck is free of all of natures clutter. Leaves, pine needles, spider webs, etc. These all tend to accumulate in between boards and up against the house. The pressure washer, with NO DETERGENT, will give you the most bang for you buck. You may need to get on your hands and knees and to some of it the old fashioned way. Some people will tell you to use a detergent, but from my experience with wood, it’s a no no. Unless you are 110% certain that you will be able to allow the deck to dry without a drop of residue from cleaners/detergents, stay away from them. They will speed the process up at this stage but will end up causing a lot of frustration down the road. Good tools to have on hand when cleaning is a screw driver and a wood scraper.
Step 2: Check for damage. Inspect the deck for any loose or broken board. Repair and/or replace as necessary. Also inspect the deck for any nails or screws which may be protruding up. Nail or screw them back down or else they will cause you a lot of problems later.
Step 3: Sand the floor. Once the deck is clean and DRY, which will take a couple of days depending on temperature and humidity, you need to create a good surface on the wood for your finish to adhere to. Depending on the size of the deck or even your physical condition, there are sanders you can rent from your local rental company called drum sanders, that will drastically speed up the process. What we are trying to accomplish here is simply stated, hard to accomplish. Physically hard that is. We have all seen “The Karate Kid” sand the floor at Mr. Miyagi’s house…and that’s what you get to do. Multiple times. Bent over. Hands and knees. Rubbery arms. Machine doing the work sounds really good right now huh?
Either way, the first “cut” should use a rather abrasive grit. Depending on the weathering and stain build up, you may have to use a grit as low as 16, but I find that 36 grit is a good starting point. With a block hand sander (even if you are using the machine) try “rubbing” off the top layers of oxidation and stain. Do not press too hard, it may not require much force. It should come off somewhat easily. If it does not, lower your grit. If that does not work, use the armstrong method… strong arm it. Once you have determined what grit will pull off the old crusty stuff off the deck you get to repeat this process over the whole deck.
Now we need to make it a little smoother. This will bring down the grain of the wood so the stain you put on will spread easier and absorb with a more uniform look. Use a 50 or 60 grit sandpaper and repeat the process. You will immediately notice a difference in the feel of the wood.
Sweep and tack the floor to get up all remaining dust from sanding. Be thorough.
CAUTION: If you decide to rent a sander, I would also suggest buying a few boards of raw decking material from your local lumber yard. This way you can practice sanding on those. Better to ruin a few practice boards then to sand a hole in your precious deck!
Likely Page BreakStep 4: Stain. There are a wide variety of deck stains on the market today, and they all have great marketing teams! Not all are easy to use. There are a few methods to staining a deck. Rubbing – Using a rag, wet with stain, and rubbing it in. Then wiping it off with a dry rag before the stain has time to dry. By far the hardest method and I do not suggest doing this unless you are a trained professional. And if you are a trained professional, why the heck are you reading a DIY article? Rolling – Very much like rolling paint on your interior wall, but using a special roller. Your local hardware store will have a roller that has a nap that will absorb stain and release enough to do the job. Much easier way to stain, but be warned!!! The less expensive stains I have seen on the market utilize a cheap and poorly made chemical dryer that speeds up the dry time. The problem comes when you make a pass and stain one part and it dries fast. Then you pass by the boards next to what you just did, but you overlap a little. The areas you overlap will show darker. They do not go away until you sand again! Some of the better stains have a different drying agent that will allow for overlapping. One of the best I have ever used for rolling is Wood Defender, made by Standard Paints. Spraying – Using a paint sprayer that has a stain nozzle (most homeowner sprayers like Wagner come with this attachment) simply spray the stain onto the deck. I really do not like this method. Over spray is a mess, it gets on the house, wind carries it on the fence, birds inhale it as you spray them flying by and they create mutant baby birds. In other words, this is the worst method environmentally, and the time you save will be consumed by prep work or cleanup. Stay away from spraying.
Make sure, no matter what stain you use, that you make sure mother nature is not upset with you. You are going to want a minimum of 24 hours, maybe even 2 full days, without precipitation. Also, if it gets too warm, the stain may dry prematurely. If the latter happens, most stains allow for a single re-coat. Keep in mind it will darken the deck more than anticipated, but it will be required to give the deck the full protection the stain provides.
Step 5: Enjoy. Invite your friends and family over. Light up the barbie, and have a party. Show off the hard work you just did!
