tomsteve

Hey all. Been a lurker here for some time and have gained valuable knowledge to help me make some pretty dirty surfaces look pretty darn good. Now I have one I'm not sure about what to use and before start throwing chemicals at it, thought it would be wise to ask for advise. So, I'm going to be adding on to my neices existing 12 by 16 deck making it a 20 by 24. To save some money for her,Instead of replacing the 2 by 6 PT that's on the existing deck( she's owned the house for three years. I did what I could with what was there to make it look better, but it I don't think it was ever properly taken care of. And it just ended up looking good ish)I'm flipping all the deck boards over. The bottoms were in very good shape except for one thing- every spot the boards were on a joist there's a pretty good dirt stain. I've gone over an area with just my pressure washer alone( no chemicals) which cleaned it up pretty nice, but still have the dirt stains where the boards were sitting on the joists. So, before I go making mess a d wasting money throwing this that and the other at it, do ya have any recommendations for what I can use? I'm thinking there still might be the possibility that I won't be able to completely get rid of the stains? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

since I happen to own a planer and a metal detector, and since I have all the boards up,flipped, and only partially screwed down, thats a heck of an idea! I think that just may be a viable solution. Thanks!!!

Thanks all. Steven, that is pretty much what I was thinking to do but just wasn't sure.And yes, there's one long line across the entire deck..at every joist. I was trying to think of a way to call it some form of art of maybe a new design style, but it just didn't work! :) Beth nRod, I was thinking that,too. Since its been there for many years I was thinking the dirt/grime might be deeper into the wood thanjust washing will take care of. Last night I had already decided to rent a drum sander, but will still wash it thoroughly first. This is still going to be less expensive that replacing 12' by 16' worth of deck. Might me laborous, but I'm good with that. Nice weather out for the job! I'll get some before,during and after pics for ya's. Since I have 6 boards I'm going to replace A d they aren't screwed down I'll get some pics of them to show what years of lack of maintenance can do. Really a great site here and your advise is greatly appreciated by both me and my neice and her husband.