After a thorough power washing, the wood fibres of the deck’s various components frequently rise as they expand with the water. Once dried, these elevated wood fibres often persist and can produce splinters. As a result, you should plan to sand your wood deck following power washing and before staining and sealing. This critical stage will guarantee that your refinishing work is a success.
Sanding a deck using a power sander comes in various configurations, from typical household orbital sanders operated by hand to professional upright rental sanders available at home improvement centres and rental shops. If done appropriately, any of these will effectively sand your deck. Most homeowners find that sanding using standard consumer power sanders is entirely doable. However, patience is necessary, especially when dealing with a big deck that may require many days of labour if utilizing a hand power sander. Visit the leading floor sanding in Perth today!
How to Sand Deck Flooring
While the aim of sanding hardwoods is typically to achieve the smoothest possible surface, this is not the case when sanding an outdoor deck surface. Sand deck flooring with sandpaper with a grain of 60 or 80, but no coarser. Sanding using finer-grit sandpaper (100-grit or higher) smooths the wood to the point where the pores begin to shut, preventing stain or sealer from penetrating the wood. Apply moderate pressure to your hand sander, ensuring an equal look as you proceed.
Sand the Outer Edges of Deck Board
Sanding the deck board’s outer edges may be challenging, depending on the form of your deck, particularly if the railings have a shallow bottom baluster rail that makes access impossible. A minor detail sander may be advantageous in this case if your regular orbital sander would not fit. Again, sand the end grain of decking boards with a grit of 60 to 80, being careful to sand as evenly as possible since stains are frequently absorbed unevenly into the end grain if the panels are not sanded to uniform evenness.
What kind of paint do you use on a wood deck?
Exterior deck paints, either oil-based or water-based, are appropriate, but they should be intended for use on horizontal surfaces, not simply on a house or a fence.
How to Sand Between Deck Boards
Sanding between deck planks is a time-consuming process. Gaps can be uniform or uneven in shape depending on the shrinking of the wood. A tiny detail power sander with a grit range of 60 to 80 may be used, as well as a thin sanding block covered in sandpaper. The sanding block may even be able to complete both sides of the gap in a single pass. To achieve the most excellent staining effects, sand the wood as uniformly as possible.
If the deck boards have rounded edges, sand them with each pass, turning the sander. Wrap a paint stir stick or another suitable wood thickness in 60 to 80 grit paper and work your way through narrow gaps. A sawing action is frequently effective. However, joists might obstruct the motion. Additionally, if exposed timber joists are visible between boards, sand them to improve the protective stain or paint absorbency.
Should You Wash The Deck After Sanding?
After sanding, the deck should be washed to eliminate wood dust from the pores and wood surface. Sanding is necessary to remove high wood fibres left behind the following pressure washing the deck. Thus, power washing will elevate more fibres, necessitating further sanding and more drying time before re-sanding.
Sweep, vacuum, or blow (with a leaf blower) the sanding dust off the deck, and clean hard-to-reach places with a tack cloth. Once the dust has been cleaned from the whole deck, immediately apply the paint or stain. Keep a tack cloth on ready in case you come across any sanding dust.
