Blending new/old PT

[bigchaz 157]

I've got a 20x10 deck with a 10x10 addition. (Rails are all new on the whole deck) Old part is 4 years old, moldy, gray, no stain. New deck is less than a week old.

They know it will never match but is there anything I can do help this process? I'm not comfortable waiting a year while the old section gets even worse, and I don't see the point in cleaning only the floor on the old part while the rails and 100 sq foot additional surface have nothing.

If you absolutely had to stain brand new pressure treated, what would you do to prep it? And how do I best blend with the old wood?

[acegot 14]

Yea im talking about 5" and 6" RO sanders. Never seen anything like that beast before. Where do you acquire something like that and whats the learning curve without putting big lines in the deck?

Like Ken said, you can get new or used at rental yards, & also as Ken said, they are easy to use! Thety are pretty inexpensive to rent for 4hrs or a day.

[acegot 14]

Lyle,

pretty much the same setup, except your rails look like cedar.

The rails on the job are actually pretty nice for PT.

If I cover the rails with a canvas, how do you get the parts in between the rails?

Also, if I do get stripper on the rails how badly would it discolour/damage them?

My rail pic is redwood.

I said that to protect the rail from the stripper when doing floor. There is no reason to use stripper on the new wood. If you thin down the stripper to use it as prep for the new wood you shouldnt have a problem. I use F-18 at 2 to 3 oz. per gallon for a cleaner & it hasnt affected the black spindles.Then I seal, just get some sealer on the spindles & buff them dry & they stay nice and shiney.

[Greg R 82]

Thats called a square buff sander and they will work okay for a relatively flat floor but they are slow. We use the Makita 9227C's with the 8" arbor pad and 60/80 grit hook and loop. It's a hands and knees thing is the bad thing but you can move pretty fast and roll with the contour of the boards.

[PressurePros 249]

We definitely do some of that hands and knees sanding.

[decker 14]

ahh, never seen redwood before - the only decks I have seen are cedar or PT. Although I am sure there must be some ipe somewhere!

Given what Charlie had said, I planned to strip the new PT rails to remove chemicals so stain can absorb.

So new plan is to clean the PT rails instead of stripping and of course sand after!

[Chappy 138]

I did a couple of decks in a row with the makita, took a year for my back to recover. Ive used the square buff before and it will really only do very light sanding even with 36 grit. just doesnt take off enough wood.

this pic is my deck with new stairs and stair rails. AC Semi cedar. can barely tell the difference, but the old wood is 19years old and never sees the sun.

OK My computer wont allow me into my picture file, so I cant post it. sorry.

I did another one where I replaced about a third of the boards, sanded with the sq. buff and applied WT WHG. I was appalled at how it looked and was ready to strip it again, when the customer said " I love it" so I was off the hook.

[acegot 14]

Thats called a square buff sander and they will work okay for a relatively flat floor but they are slow. We use the Makita 9227C's with the 8" arbor pad and 60/80 grit hook and loop. It's a hands and knees thing is the bad thing but you can move pretty fast and roll with the contour of the boards.

I talked about this sander setup yesterday on thread Belt sander, I posted a couple of pics of setup, same type as Greg talks about just different brand.

[Dick Atkins 14]

We use TWP Dark Oak on the new wood and a finish coat of California Redwood on the whole deck. Pretty good match.