Prep for sealing

[RCBill 14]

Greetings,

The problem with the deck I've recently cleaned was gray, dead wood. I cleaned with ESP-38 applied with a pump-up. While the results were good, I need to improve what I have before sealing. Shortcomings are; a little gray here and there, and furring.

I searched the forum and read the posts. To those of you that have taken the time to share your expertise; Thank you.

I do have a couple questions.

I'll need to defur. I have a belt sander. I have read that a cirular sander with defurring pads seems to be the tool of choice. Will the belt sander do the job? What grit do you like? Does the circular sander leave cross-grain scratches that become more evident upon staining? Does anyone sand an entire deck?

The deck is bone dry. I want to stain asap. Is the correct remedy to the residual dead wood sanding? What do you do when you return to a deck and find small areas that could use more cleaning or removal of sealant?

Am I correct in presuming that my use of a pump-up may lead to inconsistent application of chems, that would in turn lead to the residual dead wood?

TIA

Bill

[RCBill 14]

I guess I should have tried the belt sander before I made the post. The cut of the belt sander is limited by the grain.

Am I correct to presume that the defurring pad gets into the grain to remove softer material?

Bill

[tropical wave 22]

What grit do you like? Does the circular sander leave cross-grain scratches that become more evident upon staining? Does anyone sand an entire deck?

The deck is bone dry. I want to stain asap. Is the correct remedy to the residual dead wood sanding? What do you do when you return to a deck and find small areas that could use more cleaning or removal of sealant?

TIA

Bill

We have a belt sander and have never used it on a deck....

the circular polisher/sander with defelting pads doesnt leave marks (as long as it is practiced with a bit and the rpm's are kept down until you get the hang of it, but it is EZ) and the defelting pads are great too !!

if there are areas of remaining gray or unremoved sealer we use the defelting pads and we carry a random orbit sander too...... just a 5 inch with 60 grit, mostly for tight areas like spindles etc.....