Deck Restoration Video. To Sand or Not To Sand
Deck Restoration Video
To Sand or not to Sand?
When maintaining a deck, Preschem has always tried to promote the preparation stage, as being as important as the oiling stage. When people decide to take the easy route, they run the significant risk of having an unwanted reaction. For an older deck that gets a lot of sun, it will go very dark when oiled with no preparation, almost black in colour. When asked to recommend a procedure, we always state to use Preschem’s Grey Deck Cleaner. This brilliant oxalic acid based product removes grey weathering with ease. But when do you need to do a Deck Restoration?Let’s xplore that in this post and watch the video.
Referring back to previous posts, it has been discussed at length, factors that can discolour wood including weathering. When unsealed or oiled timber is exposed to the elements, over time it goes a silvery grey. This weathering is actually a mould, that grows after UV from the sun breaks down lignin, into simple sugars. The sugar is the nutrient the mould needs to live. It is the most common cause of discolouration on weather exposed timber. If you apply oil to this grey mould, it goes quite dark in colour. Like an old power pole does after rain.
Photos L to R:
Before sanding, Half and Half, full deck restoration with a fresh coat of Aussie Clear
Back to the Question: To Sand or Not To Sand?
So, what happens when you missed the previous year’s maintenance and there’s been one or two multi-year gaps in maintenance, for a ten-year old deck? Will Grey Deck Cleaner cut the mustard, so to speak?
The author of this post is guilty of reoiling his own ironbark deck irregularly. What was noticed two years ago, after a similar two-year gap in annual maintenance, was the exposed timber didn’t come up as nicely as hoped. The Ironbark went quite dark where it was exposed to the sun.
To top it off, on that previous application , the excess Aussie Clear wasn’t wiped off and it had formed a film. This has been discussed before and results in a finish that is easily scuffed. It became very patchy, with the film still there in places where the deck doesn’t get foot traffic, or is well protected by the pergola. It had also worn back to bare timber in other spots. Re-oiling that would result in an uneven finish. This is a prime candidate for deck restoration.
So what do you do to restore the deck?
The only choice in this situation is to sand. However, sanding this medium 27m2 deck back with a hand sander, is hard work and time consuming. The main concern with using a larger commercial floor sander, will be the care needed to stop the screws/nails from shredding the belt. To stop this, you have to screw each fastener deeper before starting. This deck, as you can see, has in deck lighting, which adds another layer of complication.
No thanks. Too hard.
Is there a deck sander that will go over decking screws or nails without recessing them first?
Preschem is aware of a brilliant gadget called a Terrassen Blitz. This is a commercial, nylon bristled brush sander, that strips the timber back without having to do a thing about the fasteners. The brilliance is that its relatively quick, removes only the very top layer of timber (roughly 0.5 – 1mm), which contains most of the weathering and remaining application, while going over nails and screws without seating them deeper first. It also contains a built in vacuum system to extract the dust it creates. Deck Restoration made easy.
Once done, the deck was then hit with Grey Deck Cleaner and allowed to dry. The following day it was oiled with the good stuff, Aussie Clear.
This process does add to the cost of maintenance. But when you think about how much you paid to install the deck, the current cost of replacement and the enjoyment you get from it, it’s a relative cheap and sustainable solution. As you can see, the results speak for themselves, with this deck being completely transformed to “As New”. With a bit of luck, this deck won’t need to be sanded back for another ten years or so.
Big shout out to Rhys at Costal Deck Restorations (M: 0407 354 932) who helped out in prepping the deck for oiling.
The link to the Terrassen Blitz and Randy Australian distributor is Woodcrete Pty Ltd, located in Mulgrave Victoria. Be sure to check out their internal and external flooring solutions.
Check out the nearest stockist of the Aussie Clear and Grey Deck Cleaner, but also the online Click and Collect delivery from Mitre 10, Bowens in Victoria and Timber Care
Haha, brilliant read! So, my decks looking a bit like a forgotten power pole – perfect timing for this. The idea of wrestling a floor sander across my deck with lighting is a comedy of errors waiting to happen! Thanks for the laugh and the life-saving Terrassen Blitz mention. Now, where’s that Aussie Clear to make it look brand new again? 😉
The Blitz went straight over the in-deck lighting. Zero issues.
Joking.
CDR went as close as possible to the lights then used an orbital sander do detail and blend it in with the rest of the deck. CDR told me that for decks they do with really fiddly pieces, he has a multi-tool with the small triangular sanding head to get into those really tight hard to get in places.
At the time of the video the deck was 10 years old. It came up like new. Right now, almost 12 months later, the finish has faded and needs another coat. But the timber is looking great and will only require Grey Deck Cleaner as the prep.
The patchy old coating in your photos is a useful reminder to separate the repair work from the finishing work. Before booking a deck clean or sand, it helps to mark any loose boards, splits around fasteners and spots that stay damp. Those need assessing before the surface is made to look tidy; a fresh finish won’t put holding strength back into a damaged fixing point. Grey colour alone also isn’t enough to decide a board needs replacing.
I’m commenting on behalf of MEL ONE Adelaide Carpentry Hub. For a repair-and-refinish scope, I’d keep board or fixing repairs as a separate line from surface preparation and coating. That makes it much clearer what is actually being fixed, particularly when some boards are sound and others need attention. Your follow-up about the finish fading while the timber remained in good condition makes that distinction especially useful.
Hi Nancy,
Grey weathered timber is not an issue. It is a reaction, where UV breaks down the lignin (the natural glue in wood) in the timber to form simple sugars. The grey comes from the select number of species of mould that feeds off the simple sugars.
This deck is my own. The timber is grey ironbark and subframe is H3 treated pine (treatment is ACQ). Fasteners used were Worth Stainless Steel decking screws. It is rock solid after 13 years and still looks like new. Design for durability was a key focus during construction.
Rohan