Neighbor told me I was stripping too much off my deck boards - he was right

Last summer I was refinishing my deck and going to town with the pressure washer, really blasting the wood to get that old stain off. My neighbor Bob walks over and says "You're gonna ruin those boards, you're taking off too much wood." I kinda brushed it off at first. But after a couple months I noticed the wood was starting to splinter and feel rough in those spots. Sure enough I had actually gouged out some softer grain. Now I only use a chemical stripper and a stiff brush, then just a light rinse with the pressure washer from farther away. Anyone else get told something like this and ignore it only to find out the hard way?

2 comments

2 Comments

gavinh265d ago

Ha, yeah Bob was looking out for you but probably laughing a little inside watching you go to town. I did the exact same thing on my first deck job, turned some of the boards all fuzzy like a wet dog. Took me way too long to learn that a pressure washer is not a magic eraser for wood.

sageburns5d ago

Fuzzy wood's not the end of the world, you can just sand it down.