If your boards are really bad, don't rent the big machine. The splintered wood will destroy the pad and sand paper in less than 2 minutes. Plus, that thing is heavy with nobody to help. I'd say if your boards are somewhat nice like in the video, then yeah it's kind of worth it.
I am in the process of doing my deck. These tools make it MUCH easier. However, you can do it by hand using a sandpaper block or pole sander. It is just very labor intensive. I would suggest you do the best job possible as a poorer job will require the work to be done much sooner as the stain does not penetrate and adhere as well to a poorly prepped surface (I know). I am redoing my deck after less than 3 years because I did know properly know how to prep. Now I'm learning. Good luck!
I will never stain or paint again, too labor intensive. This time I am going for just cleaning and sealing, much easier to re-do. I find staining also does not last hardly anytime especially in areas exposed to the sun.
Very helpful video, thank you for posting and sharing. My balcony is already stained but chipped in some places, do I have to remove all the old stain, ? is it enough to sand without the intention of removing the old stain, just to open the wood grain to allow absorbent of the new stain?
What do you use to remove the stain between the boards in the gaps. Don’t want to use chemicals as the bottom of the deck is over the patio and stained as well. Going from a stain to a natural wood look.
Hey Ty, if you can try to power wash the area. The wood fibers of the various components of the deck will raise up and expand with water. After drying, wood fibers can often remain raised and may cause splinters. For this reason, you should plan on sanding your wood deck after power washing and before staining and sealing. Hope this helps!
