I wish I found this site two years ago when I bought my house and decided it would be a good idea to put 100% Acrylic Latex solid color cedar stain (Pittsburgh Paints Ultra) on my 14 x 20 deck.
Anyways, after getting sick of the cracking and peeling, I spent several hours the last month stripping the solid stain off of my deck. I mainly used Jomax brand stripper (paint brushed on, 45-60 minute dwell time) and used a pressure washer to blow it off. Of course there are several spots remaining on the deck boards. I began sanding the boards with a combination of a small angle grinder and random orbital sander. Of course there is some solid color stain left between the decking boards, and a few very small spots here and there around the nails.
The whole point of this project was to strip the solid stain and apply a nice semi-transparent oil stain. I've already resisted the urge several times to simply slather on another layer of solid color stain and live with the cracking and peeling.
So finally, here's my question. If I finished sanding, cleaning, brightening, and decided to put on a semi-transparent (I was looking at Cabot's cordovan brown), would the small spots of solid stain I'm practically too lazy to sand from between the decking boards be that noticeable?
Also, I would appreciate any opinions on what the pros would do. Anything helps :) Thank you!