Sanding the deck before staining. Handheld belt or orbital sander?

[fishgutzy]

Belt has a larger surface area so would make quicker work of the task. But we already have orbital sanders.
Anyone have experience with both? The orbital we have is a reliable Dewalt. Had it for many years now. Just attach the shop vac to it to suck up the dust.
Debating whether to get a cheap ($50) Craftsman belt sander to speed it up.

Area is almost 12' x 20'

Nice sunny dry day to work outside.

 

[Diablos]

I used both. You'll definitely appreciate the speed of the belt sander on the straight flat surfaces.

Get a cheap on at harbor freight

 

[GymB]

Rent a floor sander?

 

[Ikarus1]

flip the boards and hit em with some deck cleaner. I promise they'll look better not being exposed to the sun

That's exactly what I did on my deck last summer and it turned out great. Recommend Cabots stain also, it's excellent

 

[Windini]

Sounds like a lot of work for the results typical of deck staining. I would use a good cleaner & pressure wash, let it dry a few days (or as long as necessary), then stain.

And what @Me. said is spot on. Protruding nails or screws will rip sandpaper and gouge backer pads/platens, and you'll grind off any galvanization or coatings on the hardware that could cause corrosion issues not that much later on.

Plus, pressure washing any squirrels nesting on the the corrugated roof could be a lot of fun! As they come sliding out the low end on a torrent of water, someone could be skeeting them with birdshot!!

 

[HMP]

Do it by hand. lol

 

[Scsmith42]

Good advice above.

If it were me, I’d flip the boards and rent a floor sander.

LOTS of work sanding with either a small belt or ROS. Been there - done that - never again.

 

[DrSideways]

You don't want to be sanding treated lumber.......

 

[9outof10mms]

Good advice above.

If it were me, I’d flip the boards and rent a floor sander.

LOTS of work sanding with either a small belt or ROS. Been there - done that - never again.

Listen to this guy. He has more pieces of wood flooring stored at his place than there are people in North Carolina.

 

[fishgutzy]

flip the boards and hit em with some deck cleaner. I promise they'll look better not being exposed to the sun

That's exactly what I did on my deck last summer and it turned out great. Recommend Cabots stain also, it's excellent

My wife chose an opaque grey stain. I don;t recall the brand at the moment. So the grain won't even be visible.

 

[fishgutzy]

You don't want to be sanding treated lumber.......

I have a shop vac attached to the port on the sander and a HIPPA filter in the shop vac.

 

[fishgutzy]

I’m still wondering why you’d want to sand a deck? How old is it? Was it painted?

The only thing I’d do to a deck would be chemicals to clean or strip, and then pressure washer.

I don't know how old it is over all. Much of it was rebuilt by the flipper before we bought it in 2014. But not all of the deck boards were new.
Weathers, a little rough. Sanding to smooth out the roughness and improve adhesion of the opaque gray stain. Grain won't be visible.
I'll mention pressure washing to my wife. Now that we have the underdeck roof properly set up, we can use a pressure washer in the deck. We need one anyway to clean the bricks.

 

[Diablos]

We pressure washed, still needed to sand to smooth it out. There was no way a floor sander would have worked, too uneven and the hardware was exposed just enough.

Could have flipped the boards, but wanted to leave that as an ace card.

 

[DrSideways]

The dust from some treated wood has arsenic in it. I have known several deck and pier builders that have died from lung cancer from working with the wood. If saw dust is bad then fine sanding dust would seem to only be worse.

The newer treated wood has a different treatment process and that is why it does not last as long as the old stuff. I would still research what is in the the wood.

Flipping the boards puts the end grain to a cup up orientation. The outer edges of the boards will lift.

You might look at the Trex decking or something similar as a replacement. Or get someone else to do the sanding while you are at the range.

 

[InvisibleOne]

Mr Myagi says you should find a skinny kid named Danielson, tell him to sand the floor.

 

[Diablos]

The dust from some treated wood has arsenic in it. I have known several deck and pier builders that have died from lung cancer from working with the wood. If saw dust is bad then fine sanding dust would seem to only be worse.

The newer treated wood has a different treatment process and that is why it does not last as long as the old stuff. I would still research what is in the the wood.

Flipping the boards puts the end grain to a cup up orientation. The outer edges of the boards will lift.

You might look at the Trex decking or something similar as a replacement. Or get someone else to do the sanding while you are at the range.

 

[fishgutzy]

The dust from some treated wood has arsenic in it. I have known several deck and pier builders that have died from lung cancer from working with the wood. If saw dust is bad then fine sanding dust would seem to only be worse.

The newer treated wood has a different treatment process and that is why it does not last as long as the old stuff. I would still research what is in the the wood.

Flipping the boards puts the end grain to a cup up orientation. The outer edges of the boards will lift.

You might look at the Trex decking or something similar as a replacement. Or get someone else to do the sanding while you are at the range.

If we were staying here we would. But we will be moving closer to Morrisville in the not too distant future. Want it to look nice for a year or more. Let the next owners do that.

 

[chrishf12]

If we were staying here we would. But we will be moving closer to Morrisville in the not too distant future. Want it to look nice for a year or more. Let the next owners do that.

If you are moving then just flip the boards and be done. Don't worry about the stain.

 

[Ikarus1]

If you are moving then just flip the boards and be done. Don't worry about the stain.

yeah that will look like crap. Before our appraisal last year I flipped and stained mine, replaced the worst warped bent or busted boards and the appraiser counted it as a new deck

Saved me about 5 grand / added 5 grand to the value.

 

[fishgutzy]

Since I figured we need a pressure anyway, and they are on sale this week, I bought on. I'll see how that does cleaning up the deck.
Also got stuff for brick wall cleaning.

 

[BlackGun]

Coat with a stripper lightly then blast it with a pressure washer unless the deck is large.

If it’s large pressure wash and put down something other than stain to cover it. I’d tell the wife it’s her task if she wants stain. Man up fishgutsy.

 

[fishgutzy]

Got the pressure washer yesterday on sale.
Why didn't I buy one a few years ago?
The deck wood is actually in great condition once the crap was cleaned off.
I have to sand a little where the dogs chewed at the step edges before we put the gate at the bottom of the deck stairs.
Pull a couple nails and put screws to secure a couple step boards.

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[fishgutzy]

Before, and before I finished yesterday.
Nice difference.

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[fishgutzy]

That's great news. Did you tear up any wood when you were figuring out the optimum "range" to hold the nozzle?

Nope. But it did occur to me that this would be awesome for a CIA black site for interrogation.

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[fishgutzy]

Bricks clean too

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[Windini]

Welcome to the Addiction!

Once you try pressure wash, you never go back.

 

[fishgutzy]

Definitely hooked.
Doing the "curb appeal" stuff now.

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[fishgutzy]

Done.
Now I can take a shower and relax.
Look close.
The red circle reflector was the aiming point for my mother before we convinced her to give up her car.
The two white ones address guides for the kids to park the patriot and leave room to get out of the garage.

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[DrSideways]

Done.
Now I can take a shower and relax.
Look close.
The red circle reflector was the aiming point for my mother before we convinced her to give up her car.
The two white ones address guides for the kids to park the patriot and leave room to get out of the garage.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

Looks great. Get some Thompson's water seal and you can spray it on with a garden sprayer.

 

[Starkherz199]

Looks great. Get some Thompson's water seal and you can spray it on with a garden sprayer.

Maybe. Thompsons has changed their formula. The clear liquid always worked great, but the milky liquid sucks balls through a sprayer. I had to run laquer thiner through my sprayer to straighten it out. Might try something other than Thompsons next year.

 

[Burt Gummer]

Pressure washing makes a world of difference. If you wanna make a difference in the water bill, hook to your neighbors hose

 

[Qball]

I know this thread is about a quick temp solution to move the house soon. However, if I were to apply something to that deck and fence it would be a preservative and not a sealer.

Cabot Australian Timber Oil is a good product for deck boards and fencing. Easy to apply and only requires a recoat every two to three years depending on the sun exposure.