Thank you for this video. This idea popped up in my head a few weeks ago, but the two people I've asked about it said it wouldn't work. This only made me want to do even more! Lol! Honestly, I don't understand why anyone would think this method wouldn't work 🤔! What I want is a deck that is flat across all the boards. My wife and grandkids walk around bare footed, and having a deck that is actually flat would be nice. Our deck is about 8 years old and needs refinishing. Thankfully, the original owners used the "camo screw system" when they built the deck, so screw or nail heads won't be an issue. Your video is proof that this works! I'll be renting a sander soon! Thanks again!
I literally just followed every single step and I really wanna tell you how much I appreciate this video. You saved me thousands of dollars and I feel really proud that I was able to accomplish this myself in a week for only $150.
Stripper and conditioner will always give best results. The reason the pressure washer left marks was because you need to do full passes feathering out, cant just stop back and fourth at high pressure. Looks good for a DIY job. Ive been restoring exterior wood for 20 years. 👍
Great vid April. I did the same thing about 20 years ago on a deck that had aged several years. Using a large 18” floor disk sander with 60 grit, then 120 grit, got it level as a pool table. What made it easy was the fact that I used a under deck fastening system. All of the typical cuppiness you get with PT pine boards was gone.
I'd be curious to know how many belts of 24 grit paper you went through and what the total square footage? Refinishing my front deck is first up on my priority list this spring. Great job as always.
Every modern stain option is just a plastic coating which will require sanding to re-coat after a few years. Try using a linseed oil paint stain which requires no sanding to re-coat, just cleaning. If you're replacing the nails with screws, flip the boards over, the bottom of the deck boards will be pristine.
My wife and I love your videos and used so many things we learned about or saw on your channel when remodeling our old house. The results were amazing. Thank you for the awesome content!
Good morning, April! The porch looks GREAT! I watched my neighbor do this to his deck about two years ago (thinking he was nuts) and it came out looking beautiful. I love that you have two levels to your porch. Makes me want to fulfill one more (in my dreams) project and build a deck over my deck. It would be nice to walk out of our bedroom and take in the fresh air in the morning. Thanks for sharing another great video with an awesome idea that most wouldn't dream of doing. Keep 'em coming! God bless.
Super-helpful as always. One thing: I've seen manufacturers and pros recommend to do only one coat (not multiple) on decks that have been sanded (or new wood).
I wanted to do this exact same thing on my huge deck but didn't want to risk breaking a rented belt sander with a stray nail so I did it all by hand with a belt sander. Yea, it was agonizing. And now seeing your success, I'd do it this way in the future. Looks great!
We stained our front 8 x 8 deck a dark brown to match the trim on our house. However, we used the redwood stain on our 12 x 16 rear deck, mainly because it was only $13 a gallon. It has been 6 years, and it's finally peeling up to where it needs to be redone. Going to try to find a rental place that has a sander. Our Home Depot doesn't rent them here.
Thanks so much for this video. I compared it to several other pressure washing, chemical treatment videos, and felt that this looked way faster and easier. I rented the same floor sander you used and it took me just a few hours to do my deck (about 350 square feet). I appreciated not using chemicals or a bunch of water and the option to stain right away. I would definitely do this again the next time! Highly recommend.
I am looking to do a strip, stain, and seal on my very large back deck, so I have been looking for a way to do it without killing myself. I was curious how that exact sander would work on an outside deck. Thanks for showing me. I now have a lot more confidence to go ahead and push through to do it myself. Your issues are the same that I have with railing, nails, etc. Perfect video.
i did the same thing to my deck - once - and it worked well. I sanded across like you did, but then diagonally and then with the grain. I wouldn't do this more than once, m a y b e twice to the deck but watch the thickness of the boards! The pt pine decking is softer than, say, red oak flooring (and also not supported by a sub-floor!), so more wood is being removed by that drum sander. So my 1" deck boards were thinned out to about 7/8 by the time I was finished sanding. Do that again in a few years and you're going to have a springy deck that's not as strong as it was before.
That’s a great idea April! Using a floor sander is quick and easy. Great timing, too, I need to do 2 porches and a deck. I had never thought of using a sander. Thanks for sharing another great video.
I have to say this is pretty informative. I did use a pressure washer on my deck when I first stained it and it worked very well. I had concerns about destroying the boards but it was fine. The problem I have now is the pressure washer doesn't work anymore. So I'm looking to change how I do it. I think I'm going to try the route that you went and see how it turns out.
Awesome April and just in time! I'm in the process of staining my Deck and your video is just what I needed🤙🏾💯. The view from your deck is priceless. A cup of coffee in the morning and that view❤
I resurfaced a 300 squre foot cedar deck several years back and instead of the rotary floor sander I used a square pad floor sander. The pads were 16 inches square and the sander works exactly like a small woodworking pad sander. Because the sanding pad is large enough to span several 2X6 deck boards the chances of gouging the soft cedar was reduced. Like you I used a belt sander to clean up close to the house and aroung the attached bench seats.
when using semi transparent stain you should apply the stain all the way down a few boards at a time to keep a wet edge and avoid lap marks vs. a big chunk of all the boards at once.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for doing this video. I’ve been wanting and considered sanding my old, uneven, nail-popping deck for a few years but after endless research and finding no videos or mentions of it figured there must be a reason and it wasn’t practical. Now if finally have the answer and the instructions how to do it. Can’t wait to get my project started and my deck looking brand new!
Interesting way to get old finish off a deck, and as long as the boards are structurally sound it should be several years before you need to do anything else with it. Speaking of which...any thoughts on whether you might (at some point) replace those deck boards with the same stuff you used for the floating tree house (or whatever you call it) at your commercial shop? Kinda curious though, about the way you put down some stain, then walked on it to apply more. Doesn't that leave footprints in the stain, or does that stuff soak in so fast you don't have any problems walking on it while it's still wet?
I have done it this way as well. They also rent edgers so you can get up close to the walls and posts. Always do your first pass perpendicular and your second pass with the grain and go up in grit for a smoother finish. you can even do your first pass on a 45 perpendicular if the wood is really cupped. doing 3 passes always the last with the grain.
Can you please explain why you do perpendicular the first pass? I was under the impression that you should always sand with the grain. First time sanding a deck and scared to death to get started! TY
@@pattyburrell505 Because it is so uneven and cupping. Decks that are in the sun will cup. Just think of it as sanding wood. starting and stopping is the trickiest part. When you do edges you always have to go sideways. Your finishing pass you want to go with the grain as much as possible. Ig you make divots buy your going to want to go over them in an ex pattern and then finish in the direction with the grain. Remember your just sanding wood. Make sure all the nails and screws are counter sunk.
This is exactly what I will be doing. I have some bad 2x6 boards to replace as well. I’m probably looking into a different railing system, like you. Great info on the sanding process. I have a brick red color and I want to stain it. Did they offer the sandpaper as well? How many did you go thru? What length screws did you use for your boards?
So mad!! My “big box store” only had the flat floor sander, but a drum would have been WAY better! Also… I feel like ANY kind of stain ALWAYS PEELS. So this time, we just used tung oil. We think it looks great, but curious if anyone knows why it would be a bad idea? Have to do our back deck next spring!
Stain doesn't last in hot climate sun (Redding, CA). Paint has worked much better. It still lasts only so long and must be maintained and repainted periodically. And, I commend you on your clear, straightforward explantation of what you did, and why. You jumped right into your work without the too-common selfie introduction.
I have a 30 yr old, white cedar deck. It shows a lot of 'uneven' coloring from all the stains that I have used plus what nature has done to it. I have used a multitude of staining & stripping products, but every year I have to repeat the process again. I live in Canada so we experience a wide range of temps from -30 F to +100. Can you suggest a semi-transparent stain that will still show the beauty of the white cedar and maybe last more than a year... Dan
Sander does great for removing previous stain, but might not work for decks covered in outdoor latex paint. I refinished all 5 decks on my house this last spring. A test with a handheld belt sander proved that sandpaper wouldn't work on paint.. An angle grinder and DIAMABRUSH head did the trick!
Mind expanding on this a bit? That’s my situation. The deck that came with the house we bought it 24 years ago first had half of a 10 x 15‘ pool embedded in one end we took that out and the deck and then stained with the traditional dark redwood stand which we hated. And it has railings with those small little bars all around also. When the new steps were put in where the pool had been, of course, it was all new wood and then we had to replace a few boards on the deck every few years so we had a mix of the old redwood stain and new boards but again we hated the stain. So I decided to go with a blue lighter color on the uprights and a slightly darker blue on the flat surfaces. And it looks nice with our blue vinyl siding house. But now after years of that, I’m really sick of having to paint it every two or three years. I would love to go back to just plain wood but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get the oldest boards with the redwood stain clean enough And I’m not sure I can get this clean enough to go back to wood as it’s got many years of latex paint or stain have gone in between the boards as well as on top. I fear I may have to stick with the paint, but at least I can get rid of the old layers and start with a Fresh one. And of course, cost is an issue…
April, thoughts on the deck board direction? I’ve heard a lot that the boards should be vertical fr the house to take the water out and avoid cupping. Your friends deck was correct from what I’ve been told.
Thank you so much for sharing this. I am currently working on a deck that I have used 3 different kinds of stripper on and nothing has taken it off. I need to rent one of these sanders.
You didn’t pay attention to what she was saying. She did it with the grain first and then tried it the other way, and liked it better and explained why.
You did a beautiful fence in your backyard 6 years ago. Which color stain was it. The video you did a privacy fence in a brownish stain in your backyard. Please answer
Which cedar brown stain did you use? I used Sherwin Williams Cedar Bark semi-transparent stain, and it turned out a little more red/orange than I wanted.
Great job, April! I didn’t see what kind of stain you used in the description or the video itself? I did see the link you provided to Fix This Build That’s channel but he was using something different. The product you were using looked more oil based? We’ve redone our deck twice now with super deck waterborne exterior deck stain and it peels after about a year! Looking for a better alternative! Thx for your content.
Hey I'm new to home improvement and tackling the deck is on my to do list. This was really helpful as I'm going to give this a try. Thanks for your knowledge!
I did the same exact thing, actually in the middle of the project now. I have a large, roughly 1200 -1400 square-foot deck made of redwood. However, I did not go against the grain and I am regretting it and now I have to redo it I guess.The previous owners used paint. Now I’m trying to decide if I should just repaint it or go with stain. Obviously doing the stain would take more work to get all of the paint off. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Wow that was an awesome idea 👍. Unorthodox? Hey it worked. They could do another pass with the sander with same grit just quicker run or finer grit. All preference.
@@AprilWilkerson I did . If you get time to yourself please have a flick at my son & I Halloween special. A bit of old B movies thrown in for good measure 😂😂😂
Using a floor standard is very common in Canada, where the winters take their toll on decks. I'm a DYI'er and use a square-sheet floor sander on my decks and get great results. Thanks for sharing.
Hi April. A huge fan of your videos. What you have is not a Sawsall. Sawsall (tm) is a Milwaukee Tools trade name , possibly the first on the market, very popular and high quality. You have a "reciprocating saw." I once worked with DeWalt Marketing and enjoyed "correcting" those who misspoke! 😊 Old marketing mantra, "There is a distinct advantage to being first on the market."
Gary Wilt The same adage could be applied to the word Jeep. Just because it's four wheel drive Does Not make it a Jeep. The Roxor people think what they have is a 'Jeep" it's not.
I worked with a marketing firm contracted to Chrysler. We campaigned Jeep and Ram trucks. Few knew Jeep is owned by Fiat Chrysler. Also few knew RAM Trucks was owned by Dodge (Chrysler). We ;campaigned Dodge Charger Pursuit vehicles to state patrol and Sheriff's officers. Many identified Charger as a Dodge product. Perception often interesting.
When i refinished my porch I used 2 coats of stain also. The bards were so dry that I eventually had to put on a third coat and it worked. Another great video as always.❤️
But April, if you're tearing out the railing, may as well tear off the floor and go with synthetic. I think I used Trex or equiv. then no screws visible and finish lasts f o r e v e r! Just hose it off once in a while.
I want to do the same thing to my deck, but don't wanna break my back on it. And after seeing your workout....maybe I'll wait another year. Lol Nice work!
I love how that puppy is trying to understand why you are trying to get his/her favorite smell off the desk. Samone is trying to get a few more sniffs before it is all gone
🤗TO BE HONEST,APRIL,…I NOTICED THAT YOUR DECK DID NEED REFINISHING 😅 AND I HAVE USED SCREWS FOR MANY YEARS…for the reasons you mentioned and I have rented floor sanders when possible, FOR the same reasons you did but not always 😢 AND I used the same railings that you removed 😂, they were ALOT of work to re-stain them which is what I did and was recommended over paint 😁💚💚💚
Perpendicular with grain is a horrible approach to follow for sanding. Take more passes with the grain to get an even sand. It will also make the deck more flat with minimal raises. It will also give an even surface for the stain or paint to coat the wood.
Pressure washers don't use a tremendous amount of water as compared to a hose. That's one of the benefits of them. Also, unless the wrong nozzle is used, the wand isn't kept moving, or it's to close there isn't a lot of grain that is raised.
I sent what I think is even a little crazier, I removed all nails, pulled the boards and grab them thru my Dewalt 735 with helical head… as long as I didn’t remove too much, it was ok. Nice and smooth too.
Thank you for this video. This idea popped up in my head a few weeks ago, but the two people I've asked about it said it wouldn't work. This only made me want to do even more! Lol! Honestly, I don't understand why anyone would think this method wouldn't work 🤔! What I want is a deck that is flat across all the boards. My wife and grandkids walk around bare footed, and having a deck that is actually flat would be nice. Our deck is about 8 years old and needs refinishing. Thankfully, the original owners used the "camo screw system" when they built the deck, so screw or nail heads won't be an issue. Your video is proof that this works! I'll be renting a sander soon! Thanks again!
Awesome! Glad you found it useful. Thanks for watching.
I literally just followed every single step and I really wanna tell you how much I appreciate this video. You saved me thousands of dollars and I feel really proud that I was able to accomplish this myself in a week for only $150.
Nice Job Justine 7143
Stripper and conditioner will always give best results. The reason the pressure washer left marks was because you need to do full passes feathering out, cant just stop back and fourth at high pressure. Looks good for a DIY job. Ive been restoring exterior wood for 20 years. 👍
What products do you reccomend?
The spots that didn't sand off on the original board made a darker spot when you sanded makes a good contrast. 👍 great job April
Great vid April. I did the same thing about 20 years ago on a deck that had aged several years. Using a large 18” floor disk sander with 60 grit, then 120 grit, got it level as a pool table. What made it easy was the fact that I used a under deck fastening system. All of the typical cuppiness you get with PT pine boards was gone.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing and for watching.
I’m so glad you replaced the nails sticking up with screws. It takes longer but well worth the time. Over all a great job April! 😃👏
Yes it was time consuming to be sure but well worth it. Thanks for watching.
I'd be curious to know how many belts of 24 grit paper you went through and what the total square footage? Refinishing my front deck is first up on my priority list this spring. Great job as always.
Every modern stain option is just a plastic coating which will require sanding to re-coat after a few years. Try using a linseed oil paint stain which requires no sanding to re-coat, just cleaning. If you're replacing the nails with screws, flip the boards over, the bottom of the deck boards will be pristine.
Tell more
Will I need to power wash first?
I sanded my deck 3 years ago and it’s time to paint it again.
Very nice job April. Keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work. Keep making. God bless.
Thank you so much!
My wife and I love your videos and used so many things we learned about or saw on your channel when remodeling our old house. The results were amazing. Thank you for the awesome content!
Thanks! Glad you enjoy my channel. Thanks for watching.
Good morning, April! The porch looks GREAT! I watched my neighbor do this to his deck about two years ago (thinking he was nuts) and it came out looking beautiful. I love that you have two levels to your porch. Makes me want to fulfill one more (in my dreams) project and build a deck over my deck. It would be nice to walk out of our bedroom and take in the fresh air in the morning. Thanks for sharing another great video with an awesome idea that most wouldn't dream of doing. Keep 'em coming! God bless.
Super-helpful as always. One thing: I've seen manufacturers and pros recommend to do only one coat (not multiple) on decks that have been sanded (or new wood).
But some like Benjamin Moore stain...you can apply a sealer
I wanted to do this exact same thing on my huge deck but didn't want to risk breaking a rented belt sander with a stray nail so I did it all by hand with a belt sander. Yea, it was agonizing. And now seeing your success, I'd do it this way in the future. Looks great!
Thanks! I'm loving how the end result looks. Thanks for watching.
Looks so good April, you folks did a great job putting new color back into your decks. Thanks for sharing with us. Fred.
Thanks for watching
Yes! Lots of people are using that rusty orange color, it is so weird. Love your new color choice!
Thank you!!
We stained our front 8 x 8 deck a dark brown to match the trim on our house. However, we used the redwood stain on our 12 x 16 rear deck, mainly because it was only $13 a gallon. It has been 6 years, and it's finally peeling up to where it needs to be redone. Going to try to find a rental place that has a sander. Our Home Depot doesn't rent them here.
Thanks so much for this video. I compared it to several other pressure washing, chemical treatment videos, and felt that this looked way faster and easier. I rented the same floor sander you used and it took me just a few hours to do my deck (about 350 square feet). I appreciated not using chemicals or a bunch of water and the option to stain right away. I would definitely do this again the next time! Highly recommend.
Awesome! Yes, it's a game changer to be sure! Thanks for Sharing and for watching.
I am looking to do a strip, stain, and seal on my very large back deck, so I have been looking for a way to do it without killing myself. I was curious how that exact sander would work on an outside deck. Thanks for showing me. I now have a lot more confidence to go ahead and push through to do it myself. Your issues are the same that I have with railing, nails, etc. Perfect video.
Awesome! I'm glad you found it useful. Thanks for watching.
i did the same thing to my deck - once - and it worked well. I sanded across like you did, but then diagonally and then with the grain. I wouldn't do this more than once, m a y b e twice to the deck but watch the thickness of the boards! The pt pine decking is softer than, say, red oak flooring (and also not supported by a sub-floor!), so more wood is being removed by that drum sander. So my 1" deck boards were thinned out to about 7/8 by the time I was finished sanding. Do that again in a few years and you're going to have a springy deck that's not as strong as it was before.
That’s a great idea April! Using a floor sander is quick and easy. Great timing, too, I need to do 2 porches and a deck. I had never thought of using a sander. Thanks for sharing another great video.
Glad you found it useful. Thanks for watching.
Nicely done April! 😃👍🏻👊🏻
I have to say this is pretty informative. I did use a pressure washer on my deck when I first stained it and it worked very well. I had concerns about destroying the boards but it was fine. The problem I have now is the pressure washer doesn't work anymore. So I'm looking to change how I do it. I think I'm going to try the route that you went and see how it turns out.
Loved the doggy moment!
Awesome April and just in time! I'm in the process of staining my Deck and your video is just what I needed🤙🏾💯. The view from your deck is priceless. A cup of coffee in the morning and that view❤
Great! Glad it was useful. Yes, the view is so relaxing. Thanks for watching.
I resurfaced a 300 squre foot cedar deck several years back and instead of the rotary floor sander I used a square pad floor sander. The pads were 16 inches square and the sander works exactly like a small woodworking pad sander. Because the sanding pad is large enough to span several 2X6 deck boards the chances of gouging the soft cedar was reduced. Like you I used a belt sander to clean up close to the house and aroung the attached bench seats.
That is all true. And it also takes 10x as long. Those square sanders are for the finishing on a floor after using the belt sander.
I loved this one! I am getting ready to strip, and refinish our much smaller Backporch, and I think that I will try your method.
Well done, April!
Awesome, enjoy the process! Thanks for watching.
when using semi transparent stain you should apply the stain all the way down a few boards at a time to keep a wet edge and avoid lap marks vs. a big chunk of all the boards at once.
Did my deck this past summer...sanded it all by hand with an orbital sander and 80 grit. Took a long time but did a great job.
Wow! I bet that did take a min! But what satisfaction when you were finished! Great job and determination. Thanks for watching.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for doing this video. I’ve been wanting and considered sanding my old, uneven, nail-popping deck for a few years but after endless research and finding no videos or mentions of it figured there must be a reason and it wasn’t practical. Now if finally have the answer and the instructions how to do it. Can’t wait to get my project started and my deck looking brand new!
Awesome! I'm glad you found it useful. Enjoy the process. Thanks for watching.
Interesting way to get old finish off a deck, and as long as the boards are structurally sound it should be several years before you need to do anything else with it. Speaking of which...any thoughts on whether you might (at some point) replace those deck boards with the same stuff you used for the floating tree house (or whatever you call it) at your commercial shop? Kinda curious though, about the way you put down some stain, then walked on it to apply more. Doesn't that leave footprints in the stain, or does that stuff soak in so fast you don't have any problems walking on it while it's still wet?
Love the new color. Did you sand and stain the posts? Will you install a new railing?
Very nice looks like a easy process!!!
I have done it this way as well. They also rent edgers so you can get up close to the walls and posts. Always do your first pass perpendicular and your second pass with the grain and go up in grit for a smoother finish. you can even do your first pass on a 45 perpendicular if the wood is really cupped. doing 3 passes always the last with the grain.
Can you please explain why you do perpendicular the first pass? I was under the impression that you should always sand with the grain. First time sanding a deck and scared to death to get started! TY
@@pattyburrell505 Because it is so uneven and cupping. Decks that are in the sun will cup. Just think of it as sanding wood. starting and stopping is the trickiest part. When you do edges you always have to go sideways. Your finishing pass you want to go with the grain as much as possible. Ig you make divots buy your going to want to go over them in an ex pattern and then finish in the direction with the grain. Remember your just sanding wood. Make sure all the nails and screws are counter sunk.
@@drewcama2488 Thank you for the advice!
Definitely a better choice for the color. Great to see the sander in action as my son has wood floors in his house that need to be re-done
Great job on the deck April! Thanks for sharing the video with us!💖👍😎JP
Watched this from New Zealand. Great video, and has prompted me to start my deck this weekend
Great! Enjoy the build. Thanks for watching.
I like this method thanks, also seems like a good way to get a feel for using a floor sander before having a go at a nice interior floor.
Yes, exactly! Thanks for watching.
This is exactly what I will be doing. I have some bad 2x6 boards to replace as well. I’m probably looking into a different railing system, like you. Great info on the sanding process. I have a brick red color and I want to stain it. Did they offer the sandpaper as well? How many did you go thru? What length screws did you use for your boards?
same question...how many sheets?
Using a sander to prepare a wood surface for refinishing. You don’t get much more unorthodox than that!😮
lovely job April and the deck is amazing and i love the videos every time and i always wanted to meet you in person
I inherited a massive orange deck I've been meaning to re-finish for a couple of months. This video is what I needed. Many thanks.
You are so welcome! Glad you found it useful. Yes, my orange deck had to go! This made short order of it. Thanks for watching.
Great idea April love the finished product!!!! Lucky pup!!!! 😂
So mad!! My “big box store” only had the flat floor sander, but a drum would have been WAY better!
Also… I feel like ANY kind of stain ALWAYS PEELS. So this time, we just used tung oil. We think it looks great, but curious if anyone knows why it would be a bad idea? Have to do our back deck next spring!
So cool... Great job April 👍
Glad you liked it!!
Stain doesn't last in hot climate sun (Redding, CA). Paint has worked much better. It still lasts only so long and must be maintained and repainted periodically. And, I commend you on your clear, straightforward explantation of what you did, and why. You jumped right into your work without the too-common selfie introduction.
I have a 30 yr old, white cedar deck. It shows a lot of 'uneven' coloring from all the stains that I have used plus what nature has done to it. I have used a multitude of staining & stripping products, but every year I have to repeat the process again. I live in Canada so we experience a wide range of temps from -30 F to +100. Can you suggest a semi-transparent stain that will still show the beauty of the white cedar and maybe last more than a year... Dan
Sander does great for removing previous stain, but might not work for decks covered in outdoor latex paint. I refinished all 5 decks on my house this last spring. A test with a handheld belt sander proved that sandpaper wouldn't work on paint.. An angle grinder and DIAMABRUSH head did the trick!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing!
Mind expanding on this a bit? That’s my situation. The deck that came with the house we bought it 24 years ago first had half of a 10 x 15‘ pool embedded in one end we took that out and the deck and then stained with the traditional dark redwood stand which we hated.
And it has railings with those small little bars all around also. When the new steps were put in where the pool had been, of course, it was all new wood and then we had to replace a few boards on the deck every few years so we had a mix of the old redwood stain and new boards but again we hated the stain.
So I decided to go with a blue lighter color on the uprights and a slightly darker blue on the flat surfaces. And it looks nice with our blue vinyl siding house. But now after years of that, I’m really sick of having to paint it every two or three years. I would love to go back to just plain wood but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get the oldest boards with the redwood stain clean enough
And I’m not sure I can get this clean enough to go back to wood as it’s got many years of latex paint or stain have gone in between the boards as well as on top. I fear I may have to stick with the paint, but at least I can get rid of the old layers and start with a Fresh one.
And of course, cost is an issue…
April, thoughts on the deck board direction? I’ve heard a lot that the boards should be vertical fr the house to take the water out and avoid cupping. Your friends deck was correct from what I’ve been told.
Thank you so much for sharing this. I am currently working on a deck that I have used 3 different kinds of stripper on and nothing has taken it off. I need to rent one of these sanders.
I am going to be refinishing my deck, and your video gave me an easier and better way to do it, thank you.
Awesome! Glad it helped!
Watching that paint come off was the most satisfying experience!!
It really was! I love the instant gratification in seeing the night and day difference. Thanks for watching.
It looks so much better!
Yes! I'm so pleased with how it turned out. Thanks for watching.
That looks awesome April.
Awesome video April! Thanks again... 👍
Glad you liked it!!
you could have rented a deck sander, does a great job. I would also sand with the grain to minimize sanding lines.
You didn’t pay attention to what she was saying. She did it with the grain first and then tried it the other way, and liked it better and explained why.
👏👏👏Thank you very much. Extremely straightforward and informative. Great work
Thank you! Glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching.
You did a beautiful fence in your backyard 6 years ago. Which color stain was it. The video you did a privacy fence in a brownish stain in your backyard. Please answer
It was pre-stained when I bought it at a big box store. I don't remember the name of it as I didn't stain it. Thanks for watching.
Looks great April! Can you provide the exact stain you used please? Color/brand
Which cedar brown stain did you use? I used Sherwin Williams Cedar Bark semi-transparent stain, and it turned out a little more red/orange than I wanted.
Great job, April! I didn’t see what kind of stain you used in the description or the video itself? I did see the link you provided to Fix This Build That’s channel but he was using something different. The product you were using looked more oil based? We’ve redone our deck twice now with super deck waterborne exterior deck stain and it peels after about a year! Looking for a better alternative! Thx for your content.
Your deck looks great April.👍👍
Thank you!
Hey I'm new to home improvement and tackling the deck is on my to do list. This was really helpful as I'm going to give this a try. Thanks for your knowledge!
Thanks! Glad you found it useful. Thanks for watching.
I did the same exact thing, actually in the middle of the project now. I have a large, roughly 1200 -1400 square-foot deck made of redwood. However, I did not go against the grain and I am regretting it and now I have to redo it I guess.The previous owners used paint. Now I’m trying to decide if I should just repaint it or go with stain. Obviously doing the stain would take more work to get all of the paint off. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
PS, this is a ton of work!
Nice job. Awesome video thanks for posting.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching.
Wow that was an awesome idea 👍.
Unorthodox? Hey it worked.
They could do another pass with the sander with same grit just quicker run or finer grit. All preference.
As always great info and brilliantly executed
Glad you enjoyed it
@@AprilWilkerson I did . If you get time to yourself please have a flick at my son & I Halloween special. A bit of old B movies thrown in for good measure 😂😂😂
Using a floor standard is very common in Canada, where the winters take their toll on decks. I'm a DYI'er and use a square-sheet floor sander on my decks and get great results. Thanks for sharing.
"and use a square-sheet floor sander "- this is a good tip! worthwhile- Recommend!
@@dluuc They get some paint off and flatten some peaks but don't sand back to clean wood. Drum sander is next to it at the hire shop. Use that.
@@simpletonballsack this is what I plan to do next week. With drum sander. In my particular project, the deck is very uneven.
At 2:29 did you yell "THIS. IS. SPARTAAAAA!!!!" as you did that?
The orange I call brownish red which is a normal color and think it looks nice. Still nice to learn how to sand a full deck😊
Thanks for the education on sanding the floor/deck
Would you recommend a drum sander (like you used) or a orbital deck and floor sander?
Hi April. A huge fan of your videos. What you have is not a Sawsall. Sawsall (tm) is a Milwaukee Tools trade name , possibly the first on the market, very popular and high quality. You have a "reciprocating saw." I once worked with DeWalt Marketing and enjoyed "correcting" those who misspoke! 😊 Old marketing mantra, "There is a distinct advantage to being first on the market."
Gary Wilt The same adage could be applied to the word Jeep. Just because it's four wheel drive Does Not make it a Jeep. The Roxor people think what they have is a 'Jeep" it's not.
I worked with a marketing firm contracted to Chrysler. We campaigned Jeep and Ram trucks. Few knew Jeep is owned by Fiat Chrysler. Also few knew RAM Trucks was owned by Dodge (Chrysler). We ;campaigned Dodge Charger Pursuit vehicles to state patrol and Sheriff's officers. Many identified Charger as a Dodge product. Perception often interesting.
Great job again April...
Great advice April, been considering the exact same methods. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching.
When i refinished my porch I used 2 coats of stain also. The bards were so dry that I eventually had to put on a third coat and it worked. Another great video as always.❤️
Thanks for sharing and for watching.
Hey April, what would you say the square feet of the surface you completed in an hour or two was?
Great job 👍
It came out great , always interesting and Educational.
Thanks! I'm glad you found it useful. Thanks for watching.
But April, if you're tearing out the railing, may as well tear off the floor and go with synthetic. I think I used Trex or equiv. then no screws visible and finish lasts f o r e v e r! Just hose it off once in a while.
She did an excellent job.I'm just curious as to why she didn't sand with the grain and instead went across the grain?
she explains why in the video
I want to do the same thing to my deck, but don't wanna break my back on it. And after seeing your workout....maybe I'll wait another year. Lol
Nice work!
😂
Thanks for sharing. I was wondering if I could use the floor sander. Yay!!
It worked great! Thanks for watching.
Run at a 45 or less angle to flatten and be more aggressive with removal. The following passes run with grain. Stop at 80 and screen and be done.
how long dose it take you for entire process ?
I love how that puppy is trying to understand why you are trying to get his/her favorite smell off the desk. Samone is trying to get a few more sniffs before it is all gone
Thanks for the inspiration!!!
Looks amazing as usual!
Thank you!
8:21 April, dog, background scenery.... 🤍🤍🤍🤍
Awesome, I really want to try this.
🤗TO BE HONEST,APRIL,…I NOTICED THAT YOUR DECK DID NEED REFINISHING 😅
AND I HAVE USED SCREWS FOR MANY YEARS…for the reasons you mentioned and I have rented floor sanders when possible, FOR the same reasons you did but not always 😢 AND I used the same railings that you removed 😂, they were ALOT of work to re-stain them which is what I did and was recommended over paint 😁💚💚💚
I literally did this yesterday.
Would just flipping the boards over be an option?
Having big deck is too much work! However having those sound good but what about near the wall there? Cheers! 👍🏻
I used the sander by hand as I did around the posts. At the end you can see all is sanded. Thanks for watching.
@@AprilWilkerson You are an very welcome!
Perpendicular with grain is a horrible approach to follow for sanding. Take more passes with the grain to get an even sand. It will also make the deck more flat with minimal raises. It will also give an even surface for the stain or paint to coat the wood.
Pressure washers don't use a tremendous amount of water as compared to a hose. That's one of the benefits of them. Also, unless the wrong nozzle is used, the wand isn't kept moving, or it's to close there isn't a lot of grain that is raised.
You can"t use a darker stain over the orange??
Awesome video!! If you ever want to try our boots, let us know!!
Thank you!
Thank you!
So awesome!
Glad you found it useful. Thanks for watching.
You are my hero!
Aw, thanks! I'm glad you enjoy my channel. Thanks for watching.
I sent what I think is even a little crazier, I removed all nails, pulled the boards and grab them thru my Dewalt 735 with helical head… as long as I didn’t remove too much, it was ok. Nice and smooth too.
Any clue why she wouldn't have sanded with the grain, at least after an initial pass?
I explained in the video it takes off much better going perpendicular rather than with the grain. Thanks for watching.
@@AprilWilkerson thanks for the reply. The results speak for themselves. I must have missed that comment.