just bought a house with a very large decked area out back. Its been painted by the previous owners,, but its going to need doing again soon.
We’d like to get the paint off and get some decking stain/preserver on it. It is quite a dark brown at the moment.
I was going to jetwash it off in the first instance to see what happened but I guess that wont lift the paint. So any ideas on how to strip it back? oh.. its that groved surface you get which i suspect will make things harder.
I dont want to use paint stripper (did I mention its very large..)
So STW handymen, over to you!

Is it grooved both sides??

Unscrew the planks and flip them??

Painted, eh?

Either flip over (if underside ok) or tbh, it might be less hassle to buy new decking and fit that.

water jetting will take the paint off but will probably also make it quite fuzzy as you will be doing intensive jetting.

Worth a try though or you could try some eco friendly paint stripper and a stiff brush if you can’t flip it: http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Painting+%26+Decorating/d150/Paint+%26+Varnish+Removers/sd2889/Home+Strip+Paint+%26+Varnish+Remover/p39051

Some deck planking is ‘sided’ different tread pattern on the other side, so flipping might not be the answer and in any case that eco stripper sounds favourite .

you want some of this stuff – works really well

Net-Trol

I had almost identical situation in my old house. I just washed it which took ages and left it in a bit of a mess because some of the stain came off much better than other bits so it was different colours. Not sure on a better answer I’m afraid. I’d always try to use clear deck protector now.

AND

Flippancy aside, I know you say its a big area but this is one of those jobs where its all in the preparation. You really need to invest the time now as if you dont then the restained deck will look terrible and will need doing again in next to no time.

A large area will also cost a fair bit to stain so you will be wasting money. Its a ball ache but worth doing.

All this from bitter experience! 😀

Paint it a colour you like, and save yourself a world of mind numbing misery.

Take it down and save yourself years of trying to maintain a slippery rotten dangerous pointless waste of space. Wood decking in the UK is such a ridiculous idea.

Plastic decking – a lot more expensive but easy to look after and from my experience not slippy. Make sure you get the recycled stuff though.

Decking: Worst idea evva.

I’m really struggling to understand the decking hate. I’ve had it in two houses and it’s been spot on

I re did mine two years ago with industrial stripper and several wire brushes. Was a big job but worth it. There isn’t much alternative if you want remove all the old stain. If you do clean use oil not stain to recolour it. The stains are not fit for purpose.

Nemisis +1, in the right place done well decking is great. I think it’s fashionable to dislike decking at the moment.

How do you guys stop it becoming a slip-hazard whenever it gets wet ?

get some imitation grass and cover the thing with that, looks good and you just vacumn it every couple of weeks witha wet and dry Vacumn

I’m really struggling to understand the decking hate. I’ve had it in two houses and it’s been spot on

Agreed. Decking that goes slippy is a sign of owner laziness, not decking fail.

Liberon decking oil, applied twice annually (it takes about an hour with a big roller) stops mine being slippy, and keeps it looking good. You see lots of folk posting about not treating the deck and letting it ‘weather’. IMO when it goes grey it looks shite and that’s also when it’s slippy.

Flipping the boards sounds the easiest. New boards a close second.

How do you guys stop it becoming a slip-hazard whenever it gets wet ?

Jet wash every 3-4 years.

Exactly. It’s nothing complex and ime no different to paved areas which also get slippy if left alone

Jetwash would be a good start – very likely you’ll lift the paint with that. Failing that use the wire brush.

Intensive pressure washing can damage it quite easy as I found out at previous house, splinters the wood, cracks and splits it. Allowing easier water ingress and rot in the future

You can hire a huge upright sander for the day, but the nature of decking boards and the way they naturally warp over time means these just don’t do a good job and get all the old paint off and miss some boards entirely.

Best tool for the job is a Random Orbital Sander, it takes about 2 hours to do a medium sized deck, they’re a perfect width for a decking board, and they come in handy for all sorts of other jobs with the even way they sand…

http://www.screwfix.com/c/tools/random-orbit-sanders/cat830928

I started off with a brown painted deck, flaking, looked in need of ripping out…

ROS it down, the grooves inbetween on each board arn’t as important as you’d imagine, just top sand each board back to wood which is a quick process

Then washed it down with this, brushed off and hosed down…

http://www.ronseal.co.uk/garden/cleaners-and-prep/decking-cleaner-and-reviver/

Tend to use the Ronseal perfect finish decking stain with foam pad where you just brush it on, (or Cuprinol Ultimate, both these products not slippy when wet) takes 20-30 mins for full deck, simply restain every 1-2 years… getting the initial paint off is the worst part.

Finished

Cruzcampo.
That’s fantastic advice, Thank you!
Mine looks like yours in the first picture. Guess I’ve some work ahead. At least I get to buy a new tool!
I presume you used quite a rough paper on it

Hire/ buy a belt sander

Dust mask as well !!

Martyn this is similar to the ROS I bought,

http://www.diy.com/departments/bosch-corded-220w-random-orbit-sander-pex-220-a/196773_BQ.prd

Papers are cheap so I just got a selection and started rough, working to fine to finish over, try the roughest first and see how the paint comes off.

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Power+Tool+Accessories/d80/Power+Sanding/sd1790/Sanding+Disc/p21822

Agree on the dust mask, and also goggle (i just wore my clear biking glasses).

Majority of the ROS come with a dust collection attachment too which really keeps it down.

I did borrow a belt sander first but it wasn’t gentle enough.

Good read here on belt vs orbital vs random orbital

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/tools/reviews/a3118/know-your-power-sanders-and-how-to-use-them-13314160/