Doing more wood/deck restoration. What are you guys using for sanding?
For railings and rails, I assume a palm sander. But what are we using for the boards, a floor sander like for hardwood?
I use the following tools for decks:
palm sander
belt sander
osborn brush
my hand and sandpaper
dowel rods and sandpaper
random orbital floor sander
diamabrush
nylon wire wheels
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What are you using the Belt sander for? Just more aggressive sanding of damaged areas? Or is it your go-to for railings/benches?
In my area, maybe not yours, the contractors like to make the handrails square, especially on the steps. I round off the corners, and bevel them with a 50 grit sanding belt (touch up with palm sander). I also use it on the ends of stair treads/steps (outside) and floor boards that tend to crack/split to smooth them out. It takes a lot of material down quick (look out for the staples). Not all contractors are the same, some don’t make the most even cuts on the end of floor boards and a sanding belt will even out those small discrepancies. It also smooths out some bad cups in boards that people are too cheap to replace (toe stubbers), combined with the floor sander it make a nice smoother surface. As far as benches go, most people in my area don’t do built in benches so you would be better off asking @SurfaceTherapy or others on here.
Go with what surface therapy said for the floors, I use it too, a random orbital floor sander works great for floors. You can rent them but test it at the rental place first.
