LESLIE: Well, it’s the summer barbecuing season and sitting out on your deck is a great place to be but Mike’s dealing with a problem out there. How can we help you?
MIKE: Well, I have a deck that goes all the way around the house and it’s covered but the guy who built it I guess didn’t use pressure treated wood and the paint is peeling up. I was wondering if there’s anything else I could do besides replacing these boards; if I could get like a sander – you know, like you do hardwood floors – and then repaint it.
LESLIE: Well I mean absolutely. What you’re going to have to do is you’re going to have to get down to a raw surface; especially in the areas where you’re dealing with the paint chipping up and peeling. You can use a chemical stripping product – Flood makes some great ones that are out there – to get all of that paint off and get down to a raw surface, which will save you a ton of elbow grease from the sanding. You know you may need to sand some areas where you’re dealing with problematic pieces of paint that won’t come off, but once you do that and you put more paint on it’s going to need to be painted again and again.
A better option might be a solid stain; you know, especially depending how much of that paint you can get off and how comfortable you feel and what color you’re going with, a solid stain – every manufacturer makes one – it just penetrates the wood. Rather than sitting on top like a paint does the stain goes into the grain itself, but it’s – you know it’s very opaque almost as a paint but you do still see some of the graining texture to the lumber itself. So it’s not like the paint that just covers over everything.
TOM: There’s some options for you, Mike. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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