I have a customer who has a two story deck, the top deck being the one he wants me to remove the stain so he can re-stain it later. I have cleaned decks, and removed old paint from fencing, but have not removed stain from a deck. What do you guys recommend? Im hesitant to use any paint stripper as im afraid it will drip down to the lower deck and strip the stain below, which he does not want me to touch…should i just get my pressure washer and use a 40° tip about 6-12" from the surface and have at it? Or will i need a product to move things along?
Some stains are very stubborn. There is one in particular from Sherwin Williams that even they had a hard time getting off and they had to put the word out to the industry for a new type of paint stripper.
I don’t know much about removing stain via pressure washing without using a paint stripper, but I have to ask, why aren’t you just tarping and taping the lower deck?
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in my experience stripping decks is a whole new non profitable beast. It’s all based off setting customer expectations in the beginning, realistic expectations. Last year we quit offering deck stripping and staining. It’s been less stressful and more profitable since.
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The biggest question is what product is on the deck now? If its oil based you should be good if its water it depends on whos product it is.
he also specifically only wants the floorboards and not the rails. Do I have to cover all the rails as well? Won’t the splatter from the stripper remove the stain from them?
Yes it is water based. What’s the best way of removing it?
I haven’t had much luck with my methods removing water borne products there is always something left behind… The hotter your mix is the more chance you take furring the boards also. There is a product I been meaning to try called StripIT its pricey but alot of people have had success with it.
Have you tried the flood stripper? It works through solvents rather than just the sodium hydroxide. It’s the abundance of sodium hydroxide that causes the fur to develop on the wood.
Hmm i haven’t tries either of those. Ill look into them both though. I did happen to call Olympic paints and ask them about the specific stain they said for my situation sanding be the only option because of the lower deck, so unfortunately I may be passing on this project😞
Big Blue tarp and clamps
Wow…i dont paint decks i stain decks.
Staining and painting are too different
Won’t the stripper run down the posts though? And splash onto the rails?
I used this on my deck… I dont care what the label says, thats paint… I went through 4 gallons of that and its like $75 a gallon. Really good stuff but it has NO CLEAR to it at all. You cant see through it.
Save yourself a headache…RUN
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yeah the owner told me it was stain. And I was like okay let’s do this… And a couple days later thought about how dark it was and how it look like paint so I gave him a call and found out what it is just to be sure. Yeah it was like 40 bucks a can at Lowe’s. yeah he actually went ahead and cancelled after I told him what Olympic recommended.
Did exactly that 
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Smart move
There is 2 types of stain. A solid stain lays on top of the deck like paint. A transparent stain you can see through and soaks into the deck. What I would do is cover the bottom deck with tarp then apply a stain stripper to top deck then pressure wash. If stain doesn’t come out then a sanding is necessary. Staining and sealing is great $$$ once you get the hang of it. I did this today. 2 coats of transparent sealer (no stain) on bare wood.
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This is a solid stain. Just clean the surface of the previous stain and re-coat with whatever color he prefers. No need to strip it unless of course he doesnt want solid.
