strip paint off of a deck

[denstacie]

A friend of mine painted his deck instead of staining it, so of course it is now peeling is some spots, but is fine in others. Can you recommend a way to strip the paint off. He tried a commercial paint stripper, but had little luck. Thanks for any information.

Dennis

 

[onecallpowerw]

Stripping

Sodium Hydroxide. You may need to use several applications. Using hydroxide can severely do damage to skin/eyes. If you have no experiance with this chem then hire someone with the knowledge to do it for you. Believe me, you do not want to take any chances.

 

[Aplus]

Sodium Hydroxide. You may need to use several applications. Using hydroxide can severely do damage to skin/eyes. If you have no experiance with this chem then hire someone with the knowledge to do it for you. Believe me, you do not want to take any chances.

I respectfully beg to differ.....sorry.

Sodium Hydroxide (SH) is not the proper chemical for removing paint, especially if the paint is latex based.

If the paint is oil based, you may have some results using an SH based product. But still, the results are generally not all that good.

There are come suppliers that carry boosters, usually made from butyl that are added to SH based strippers to alledgedly allow paint removal. I have used these products and was generally not satisfied with the results.

I have plenty of pictures to back up these statements.

If removal is trully desired, a drum sander operated by a professional floor sander is the most effective way for the floor. Then, hand sanding with a small rotary or palm sander to get the edges and corners will finish up. Remember that the paint between the boards cannot be easily removed, and will likely show.

Truthfully, the easiest way to deal with the railing system is to remove it and replace it with a new railing system.

The statements I have made are based on ten years experience, and trying just about every chem I could get my hands on.

Now days I realize that removing solid paint or solid stain just is not worth the work involved, and many customers are not willing to pay the premium that is costs to perform this service. So, I will only offer repainting or restaining over top the old coating. It is ok to change the color, however.

 

[denstacie]

Thanks for the info.