[cutntrim]

My deck is roughly 300 sq. ft. and I've begun the laborious chore of sanding it before staining. This is our third summer at the house. The deck probably hadn't been stained for 5yrs before we moved in. I did a little cursory sanding by hand and then applied a semi-transparent stain. It looked pretty good. Last summer my wife wanted a solid stain (redwood color) so I washed the deck down and then put on two coats of the solid. Well, the solid peeled pretty bad over the winter, so I'm going back to semi-transparent.

Anyhow, I spent an hour and burned through one-and-a-half belts just to sand 20 sq.ft. At this rate I'll be done by Labor Day! Any tips on getting it done faster? Use a chemical liquid paint strip product first? I dunno, but I do know that I don't wanna spend the next couple weekends sanding after working all week.

[Paul]

Go to your local rental center, they have floor sanders that will do the job in a couple of hours. One thing before you sand it check that there are no screws or nails protruding, they can do a job on the sander drum.