freeheel

I'm using a deck stripper from Home Depot with a pressure washer to strip a deck with multiple layers of paint and stain. I'm not sure what the chemical is but is it caustic as all get out. I'm getting about 75% of the previous finish removed. 1. Do i need to use a neutralizer and when do I use it? 2. Is that enough to move to sanding? 3. What type of sander would be best, orbital, drum, or square buff? It's PT pine. 4. Is it reasonable to think I can get this clean enough to use semi-transparent stain? I'm thinking about using cabot or sikkens. I tore down the railing and will install a new one. Just working on the deck. Thanks in advance!

Rails are up, see below. I've got 5 gal of ReadySeal, medium brown. I should have had enough dry days to do the application on the deck next week. I've got a big question... Obviously I'll be going for a two tone look with the white blasters, powder coated aluminium. I'm going to paint the vertical part of the steps (kickplate) white. I was thinking about painting the vertical portion of the rails white too but stain the handrail with ReadySeal. Do you think I'm asking for trouble putting paint on the new pressure treat? Would I be better off doing all of the rails with ReadySeal in the same medium brown? I've still got to order post caps. I'd greatly appreciate any advice/thoughts. I've come too far to hose this up now.

I apprecite the advice! I will definatly re-wash. I assume the re-wash should be with a hose or really low pressure on a washer to prevent fuzz. Don't want to do this again any time soon. My preference, I think, is a semi-clear oil stain. I'm open to recommendations on product. I'll order online or find a speciality paint store if necessary.

Got most of the sanding done yesterday, I just need to trim around the house and a few other spots with a hand sander. Got it about 99.5% clean, used a drum sander with 36 grit then finished with 60. Took about 4 hours, wasn't fun but it certainly wasn't difficult. Here are a few pics I'm starting to think about stain or paint and would appreciate any recommendations. Semi-clear, opaque, or paint? I was thinking a light brown/tan with white rails.

No discouragement here. I'm not doing this job because I want to make money. I read the fine print for a couple of minutes on the stripper and did not see what the active ingredient is. I'm sure it is not as strong as some of the recommendations that have been made here but it is a pretty caustic gel. If I hadn't already started I would have order something better. I've got about 85% bare wood now. The previous pics may be a little misleading because the deck was still wet from a rain shower that passed by and may have made the wood look darker than it really is. My plan is to hit it with a drum sander on Thursday unless I get better advice on the type of equipment to use. I'll start with something rough and then finish with 60 or 80 grit. I'll post pics after sanding. Vertical surfaces have been tough. I'll probably go with the recommendation to paint them white and match with white railing.

I'm having a hard time finding chemicals locally and don't want to wait to have them shipped. Going to give the whole deck one more coat with stuff from Home Depot. With respect to the layers I'm dealing with, 3 layers of grey paint on top of 2 or 3 layers of red stain (the last one being a solid stain I think). Right now my biggest question is what type of sander to use? The local tool rental store recommends a drum sander. I'm a little concerned that will be too aggressive on pine. I'll see how this turns out before picking a stain. I'd really like to go semi transparent to avoid this kind of prep before re-application. Based on past experience I'll have peeling issues with solid stain.

Got it. I wasn't sure if I should sand and then neutralize. I haven't done a project like this before but I'm pretty handy. I used lots of grinders and hand tools in a boat yard but not floor sanders. I've heard there are new random orbital sanders that don't use paper, they use some kind of mesh that is supposed to clog less? Once I've sanded I'll post pictures, shooting for Tuesday. It stopped raining so here are a couple of current pics. The area in the second photo stills needs a second coat of stripper.