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

[_Jersey Girl]

So I'm mainly doing this to whine and moan about my latest DIY project. If anyone out there learns something in the process, all the better. I'm thinking it'll be me that's learning something. :-)

Here is a reasonable facsimile of the house:



I searched around to find something that even came close to it but since I essentially sketched the house on a pad, handed it to an architect who drew up the blue prints and built it, I can't find another one exactly like it.

The project I'm working on is refinishing the decks. Some of the chatters are well aware of this since I've been ranting about it in chat and asking for help, and mucho thanks to LDST for good advice.

I started the deck to the left, a couple of weeks ago. Sanding the deck rails with a mouse sander. Let me say outright that this is a bitch to do. It takes a long time to go up and down each deck rail and rain storms haven't helped the process. But I've got it almost completed, just have to do another run with a finer grade sand paper and that part is ready to stain.

A mouse sander looks like this:



Mine is a little different (older) but that image will do. There is a velcro base on the sander where the sanding pads attach. It's a cool little tool and one that can get in between the deck rails, do the top rail and get into all the little crevices.

But still it's a bitch to do.

I'm now moving towards doing the deck floor and then I'll be ready to stain. Yay!!!
I love staining wood and watching the dramatic changes that take place when one applies stain to bare wood. I've done all sorts of staining projects, refinished furniture, old rockers--like a cool Windsor Comb back I picked up for like 30 bucks at an antique store, and not long ago did all the window sills of the house. I'm pretty good at refinishing stuff. :-)

Anyway, I don't have the measurements of the deck right now, but it's large enough to hold some adirondack's, umbrella, planters and a large gas grill.

My original plan was to sand the deck floor with a random orbital sander.

Here is one:



Is that not the cutest power tool you've ever seen? It has it's own little vacuum bag and gotta love the yellow! Ladies, picture yourself in a nice pair of denim overalls, with a face mask, goggles and that yellow sander! Seriously, cute!

Now that the weather is changing and rain storms are coming almost daily, not leaving much time for the wood to dry out between sanding, I'm starting to freak about getting this done. I can't let my bare wood be subjected to too much moisture!

So, I've decided to trade up and take a leap over the random orbital sander to rent a floor sander from Home Depot. More about that in my next post...

p.s. That photo is making me want to wrap the house in rocks.

Okay stop it.
;-)

[_Jersey Girl]

While the deck is drying out from the latest rain storm, I thought I'd do a little commentary on Home Depot and sanders. Now, I don't for a single second claim to know what I'm doing. I visit websites, look at youtube videos, read reviews of products and experiences, and I just go from there.

As I stated previously, I'm running out of time here weather-wise and decided to skip over that cute little RO sander (I still want one!) and trade up to a larger sander I can rent at Home Depot.

So, I take a look at the tool rental section of the website, and make a call to Home Depot. The guy there says the best sander for the job is a drum sander. It looks like this:



It rents for 37$/4 hours and will do the job quickly. Sounds good right? Except for the horror stories that I've read online where the sander makes contact sparks with the deck nails and catches on fire.

Hello, my house is made of wood and is surrounded by wood (trees) I have no desire to catch anything on fire thank you very much Mr. HD. :-)

After looking over video's and such, I decided on this buff sander:



This one rents for $35/4 hours or $50/day so okay, yeah, I can hack it moneywise. The thing I like about this is that it seems to be smaller and lighter and since I'm not amazon woman, I like the idea of that.

But the thing I like most about this buff sander is it does the same exact thing that the mouse sander does only it covers a much larger space. It vibrates over the wood and yes, it's going to be a bit slower than the drum sander but hopefully it won't set the house and woods on fire in the process.

I still have to do the remaining deck rails with the mouse sander which as I said earlier is a real bitch to do. At least I can get the floor whipped through for not so much money, get ahead of the rain and get the whole thing stained before I run out of good weather.

Or Christmas will be ruined.

And everyone will laugh at me.

Right, LDST?
:-D

[_Jersey Girl]

A bit on removing old stain or paint.

I know there must be some DIYers on this board who would advise you to use stripper or deck brightener.

To this I say, no way. (I almost said "BS" there and edited it out)

I'm the type of DIYer who think that's a total waste of time and woman power. I say just take a damn sander to the wood and strip it/smooth it in one process, and then stain as you will.

My next hurdle will be figuring out how to reach the second deck. This will likely involve a ladder and I will almost surely die in the process.

Do not mourn for me. Just put this little line on the jar that holds my ashes.

"She died with her overalls on and a power tool in her hand."

:-D

[_Dr. Shades]

My next hurdle will be figuring out how to reach the second deck. This will likely involve a ladder and I will almost surely die in the process.

There isn't an exterior door that opens directly on to the second deck?

[_Jersey Girl]

My next hurdle will be figuring out how to reach the second deck. This will likely involve a ladder and I will almost surely die in the process.

There isn't an exterior door that opens directly on to the second deck?

Yes, there is an exterior door that opens directly on to the second deck.

However....the second deck has an exterior that is only accessible from the outside.

See?

[_Jersey Girl]

The full title of my little blog here is, "Journey of a Jersey Girl: I don't know where I'm going. You come too." (Like the nod to Frost?)

Here's a good example of what I'm talking about. I was all fired up about getting the floor buff sander from Home Depot and then I got cold feet about it, so I decided to go back to my original plan.

I GOT the RO Sander!!! Yeah, that's right, this one:



It is totally adorable and comes with it's own purse. Someone said it's a duffel bag, but I don't care what they say. It's got two handles, a designer name on it-- "DeWalt", so it's a purse.

I christened it today on the deck! I know this would be a small power tool in man hands, but since I've got lady hands :-) it seems very large. The thing has a little kick to it, but once you get used to how it rock and rolls, it's a big step up from the mouse sander. So, I started on the deck floor.

I started with 80 grit paper. Big mistake. I should have gone for something grittier. Anyway, I managed to strip off a good bit of old finish from part of the floor. I didn't know I was being watched. Just when I realized this is STILL going to take forever, the person watching me told me he was going to bring me a belt sander.

WTF?

You're not supposed to use a belt sander on the deck floor because for some reason, it's harder to control. Something harder to control is just what I need, right? Ah geez. I'll be dead by noon!

Anyway, I'm trying out the belt sander tomorrow mainly because I'm getting desperate. I have a whole week of dry sunny weather ahead and I need to make the best of it.

I also used the designer DeWalt to clean up the sanding I'd done previously on the deck rails and top rail. What a difference! It looks perrrrrrrrrfect!

Good news is that I chose the stain color. It's by Olympic and called "clove" something or other. Nice little spicey color for fall. (Look, I'm trying to make the best of this, so don't mock me.) The best is supposed to be Cabot. I don't care. The cool part of being a DIYer is figuring it out yourself and doing it just however you want.

Even if it takes forever. And your hand is numb.

And there is no question in your mind but that you'll die with a power tool in your hand.

By noon tomorrow.

I so swear.
:-)

[_Jersey Girl]

This is what I know. It's well past noon and I'm not dead yet.

I started using the belt sander. A belt sander looks like this:



Now, every DIYer on the face of the earth knows the "hindsight is 20/20 vision" experience. You decide on a project (Hell yes, I can do that deck! I can do it in ONE weekend!) and then reality sets in and you realize it's not going to go as you expected (I will NEVER be done!).

Fortunately, I passed that stage about a week ago.

The 20/20 vision kicked in for me the moment I started using the belt sander. Let me explain. The mouse sander is like a trail horse. The random orbital sander is like a pony with attitude. The belt sander is a wild mustang.

I was about to punk out on using the belt sander. Okay, I was afraid of it. I read too many accounts of how the thing "got away" from it's user and what a night mare that is. JB (who is not supposed to do anything) gave me a little demonstration and I said (no, really I said this out loud), "Okay, you made a believer out of me, now go away." :-D

This is an AGGRESSIVE sanding tool. Once you realize that your job is to hang on with both hands and go along for the ride, it's okay. It is efficient and fast! Had I had this to start with, I would have been staining by now, thus the 20/20 vision.

But there it is.

You learn as you go and take what is learned to the next project and so it goes.

Gotta go,
Jersey Girl (who is not dead yet)
:-)

[_Jersey Girl]

Oh. My. God.

Just as I was posting this, I heard the sander going. That's JB (who is not supposed to do anything) on the sander.

Excuse me while I go kick the guy off the power tool!

:-D

[_Dr. Shades]

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

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

[_Jersey Girl]

My next hurdle will be figuring out how to reach the second deck. This will likely involve a ladder and I will almost surely die in the process.

There isn't an exterior door that opens directly on to the second deck?

You know, I should have been more clear when I replied to this question the first time. The house is built on a slope. The higher part being to the left and the lower part to the right. So, unless I were amazon woman, I can't reach the second deck without a high ladder.

I *hate* ladders.

I went up in a cherry picker (boom lift) about this time last year and I much prefer the cherry picker to a ladder.

But I don't want to spend a zillion dollars on the cherry picker for the one deck.

What to do?