Journey of a Jersey Girl : DIY Edition (Deck Refinish)

[_Jersey Girl]

It's well past noon and I'm not dead yet.

You woke up before noon on a Sunday? I'm very, very sorry.

Your sympathy is much appreciated.

:-)

[_Jersey Girl]

Still Alive.

Second weekend of belt sanding the deck floor and starting to lose my good attitude. Been here before and I intend to survive it.

It's either the deck or me. I'm gonna win. :-D

No mishaps, the weather is great and I'm more than half way through with the floor. I've discovered a couple of tips for using the belt sander on the floor.

1. Change positions. Don't sit, kneel or (god forbid) stand up and bend over for very long.

2. If you bend over for a long time, you'll feel like you're gonna pass out any second which is why I came to the computer just now. 8-)

3. If your project lends itself to it, vary your sanding jobs and tools. For example, I did the floor for about an hour and then switched to the mouse sander to clean up the close-in areas that the belt sander cannot reach, and then returned to the belt sander.

4. When you read the reviews of other people's jobs and they say you can't use the belt sander around nails, don't believe it. If you have a 2" belt, you can at least sand *between* the nails and clean up around with your mouse sander. Being able to zip through the space between the nails, saves you lots of time with the slower mouse sander.

5. Shiney nails! You aren't supposed to sand over the nails at all. If you do, you'll strip off the finish on the heads of the nails and supposedly, they will rust. I'll have to see how that goes, because I remember twice noticing (and actually saying to myself) "Shiney nail!!"

6. Take a reality check as you go. I had hoped to get the entire floor down to bare wood. That's not gonna happen. Advice: be content with what you're able to do.

I expect to have the floor entirely done before the day is over and hopefully go over the rails once more with a finer grit, then give it a sweep and a little wash to get off the dust that can't be swept.

Know what that means? There is STAIN at the end of my tunnel! Olympic clove brown stain! (Unless I change my mind at the last second)

I *love* staining wood. Seriously love it. I don't know how great this job is gonna look after it's done but, the wood will be protected and refreshed and by God, I'll be able to say, "I did it myself!"*

:-)

*In the heart of every DIYer, there is an egotistical braggart who lives to say they did it themselves. Just sharing!

[_JAK]

Why not hire someone you feel is well qualified to do this kind of work for you?

You know you can afford it – although the stock market didn’t help much Friday, Sept. 30, 2011.

JAK

[_Jersey Girl]

Greetings from the dark side.

I've got 8 more boards to do on the deck floor and the lower half of the outside of the deck rails for which I'll need a ladder. I hate ladders!

When I take a step back and look at the progress I've made, the deck railing looks *fantastic* and is already fine sanded/stain ready, the floor not fantastic at all. :-(

I'm deliberating on the Home Depot buff sander now.

Or giving up.

Of course we know I'll never actually give up. I'll get another burst of steam and finish the job.

This is what the dark side looks like. "I'll never be finished", "I'm not strong enough to do this", "I couldn't sand my way out of a paper bag", "What was I thinking?" "It's taking forever".

Yeah, dark side pity party. Not to worry, it won't last forever...unlike the sanding of the deck!

There's a finish line here somewhere, right?

:-(

[_Jersey Girl]

Why not hire someone you feel is well qualified to do this kind of work for you?

You know you can afford it – although the stock market didn’t help much Friday, Sept. 30, 2011.

JAK

You're right. I could afford it in spite of the stock market. I refer you to my post just above the post that you made.

*In the heart of every DIYer, there is an egotistical braggart who lives to say they did it themselves.

:-D

I've already decided that when the deck needs refinishing again, we're getting new composite decking.

[_Jersey Girl]

More dark side venting...I REALLY wanted to get the deck floor down to bare wood!!! The deck rails look super-fantastic. But the deck floor is old and is sort of wavy in parts making sanding very difficult.

So, it looks bare in most places and yet in the wavy parts it's still showing the old stain.

I WANT BARE WOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I SANDED FOR 5 HOURS TODAY AND STILL CAN'T GET BARE WOOD!!!!!

Now THAT'S what the dark side REALLY looks like!

Okay, I'm better now.

I'll have to settle for rustic.

I HATE SETTLING!!!!!!!!!!

I said, "better", not over it!


(I swear I will have ordered a new Vera Bradley purse before the weekend is over!)

[_JAK]

You are funny, Jersey Girl!

Good luck on the whole thing. It sounds like quite an undertaking!

We are not in for snow yet. But I know what you mean where you are.

Be careful on those ladders!!!!

JAK

[_Jersey Girl]

You are funny, Jersey Girl!

Good luck on the whole thing. It sounds like quite an undertaking!

We are not in for snow yet. But I know what you mean where you are.

Be careful on those ladders!!!!

JAK

Thanks JAK!

Day two of my weekend warrior project which has turned into a month. I'm on DYI overload.

Four boards left and I'm staring at the ladder.

And that's probably all I will do with it for today!

:-0

[_Jersey Girl]

I intentionally sabotaged myself. To prevent myself from sanding more today, I took a hose to the deck to see what it looked like with the dust removed. I did this on purpose. I'll sand tomorrow.

I did pick out "Boysenberry" as the print for my new Vera Bradley purse.

That's gotta count for something, right?

:-D

[_Jersey Girl]

Back on the horse.

I've intentionally avoided the never-ending deck (except for walking on it every day) because I needed a break from it. Trust me, you'd need a break too! Doing a project like this during summer when I've no place to be is one thing, doing it at night or on the weekend while working can get ummm...old.

Well, it's home stretch time around here and time to "get 'er done"!

We returned the belt sander (wild mustang) to her rightful owner and I'm back with the Random Orbital Sander today--60 grade this time and if this doesn't do it, nothing will.

The jury is still out on the Clove brown stain, I'm leaning toward a nice Walnut now. Knowing that I overthink everything helps me understand this waffling process.

But overthinking is what a first born does.
:-)