Deck stripping - How much do I ahve to remove

[cbone68 14]

I have a deck w/ a solid Behr Stain (previous owner, last done about 4 1/2 years ago) - pretty sure deck is pressure treated pine. The stain is coming up and woud like to clean/restain/fix. Have a read multiple threads on here, but unsure on level of effort required. If I plan on using another solid stain, how much of the exisiting stain do I have to remove before I restain to make it look good and last a couple of years. Spindles and post look OK (other than we really do not like the color) Some factors:

1) Military, so may move in a few (2-3 years)

2) if stay, may replace w/ a screened porch

3) woud it be smarter (cost, level of effort, etc to just replace the deck planks)

Tried a little Behr 2 in 1 stripper on the rails - cleaned it really nice, but did not remove the stain.

Would appreciate any thoughts before i put some serious sweat equity into this. I am handy around the house, but by no means a pro.

Edited July 18, 2011 by cbone68

[Rick2 42]

I'm not much of a deck person but I think the pros here are going to ask you to upload some pictures.

[bigchaz 157]

If you're going to stick with a solid you don't need to strip it down to bare wood. Get as much off and sand any loose stain off and you can use the same stain...although your results are likely to be the same as it is currently. But yes pictures definitely help.

[cbone68 14]

Attached are some pictures of the deck. Three show the deck, while one shows the rail. On the right of the rail picture you can see where I tried the deck stripper. Got really clean (still do not like the color).

[RPetry 564]

... 3) woud it be smarter (cost, level of effort, etc to just replace the deck planks) ...

Clark,

Many of the deck floor boards in your pictures are pretty well shot. If you have some carpentry skills, I'd go ahead and replace the floor and stain with a semi-trans oil. The underside joist should be fine and the rail system looks solid. The current wood is pressure treated, probably Southern Yellow Pine and the wood is very reasonable in price.