DIY curious about a deck quote

[blakefan87]

Hi,
First off thanks for anyone who can answer my questions.
I have a modest 200sq ft deck attached to my new home. The previous owners took terrible care of it and it looks as if it hasn't been taken care of for many years.
Beautiful cedar is underneath 3 layers of cracked latex based paint. Stripping a small section proved pretty useless as the grain got in my way after what looked to be 2 layers came off. This left a slippery 3rd layer of paint between the grooves. My personal preference would be to sand the horizontal surfaces and leave the paint on the vertical surfaces which are in pretty good shape.
To get it sanded and re stained a) What would a good price be? and b) How many weekends am I looking at should I decide to do this myself?
Thanks again for any help I receive, its nice to have a website like this to seek advise so I have some know-how myself before I start making phone calls.

[RPetry]

a) just a guess without seeing the job, but ~ $1200 would be deemed reasonable here in NJ.

b) to do what? Strip and stain? One to strip, brighten, and sand. One to stain.

If you are down to the last layer of latex, a retail stripper product named Stripex-L made by Napier may do a decent job on removal.

[Beth n Rod]

If you take on a job like this you will end up paying twice what it costs to get it done right. We undo homeowner damage all the time. What you are looking at, is considered to be advanced work. Find a company with references that has done this successfully before, and listen carefully when they tell you what you can and can't expect as a result.

Post pics - they help us.

Beth

[charlie]

Replace the boards it will be cheaper

[Beth n Rod]

That's a good suggestion too!

Beth

[Adrian]

or, simply flip them, ( if possible) if not painted on the bottom as well.

[Beth n Rod]

Originally Posted by Adrian

or, simply flip them, ( if possible) if not painted on the bottom as well.

...flipping can leave holes with splinter marks from where the board was removed. The customer needs to know up front. Most will opt for new boards rather than see the splinter marks near the nail holes.

Just my .02

Beth

[Adrian]

true true. Good point. never thought of that. Just a modest inexpensive fix suggestion. That's why I use wood screws and stain, but not everyone. You're right, new wood would ( ha ha ) look better. Just shootin' another option by.

New wood would ( ha ha) be better and new wood would be cheaper than a resto.

sorry, sometimes I'm so easily amused.

[RPetry]

Originally Posted by charlie

Replace the boards it will be cheaper

Unless western red cedar is substantially cheaper in Wisconsin compared to NJ, not true. We are paying $3 a linear foot for 5/4 x 6 decking boards.

Add in the cost/time of demolition and installation, and stripping a final single coat of latex is peanuts.

[charlie]

He said in his posts that he wanted to remove the paint off the deck.

[MMI Enterprises]

To get it sanded and re stained a) What would a good price be?

If you run into a professional that will sand and restain just the horizontals at $3 per foot you would be sitting pretty. Expect more like $4-$6 though.

ps- if you can't find a reputable deck guy for your area on the low end of the above rates then you might consider asking an interior wood floor specialist if they can come sand it.

[plainpainter]

I don't know many floor Sanders that would want to F' up their sanders on popping nails - good luck!

[MMI Enterprises]

Do we know if deck has screws or nails or if they are popped. Would be job of the professional to come check it out to see if deck is suitable candidate for sanding or not. A pro floor guy usually has a few different types of machines and likely has something they can throw at the rough jobs.
After palm nailing the nails just under surface level, I would go for it with the swing machine. Extreme warping creating unlevel transition from one board to the next is my main worry.

[blakefan87]

Since the last time I checked this I sunk the nails and borrowed a friends 150lb sander and went nuts on it. My thought was should I screw up I would replace the boards and not be disappointed about that.
Luckily enough for me the paint didn't even gunk up the sand paper and I got through the whole thing using only 3 belts.
What was left I stripped with a chemical and I plan on sanding with a hand held belt sander the tiny areas that are left.
The wood is looking really good and so far the project is only 20 hours and 100 bucks of supplies.
I feel like I got lucky, cant wait to finish and get stain on the thing.

[RPetry]

Blakefan87,

Hmm, 20 hrs. is a lot of time to strip and sand a 200 sq. ft. deck. But lets do the math, and see how much you lost or saved.

Just for comparison, let's say that to remove the old cedar and install new, it would take the exact amount of time, 20 hours. Probably not too far off if it took that long to prep the existing cedar. Good stainless steel fasteners, and stainless should be mandatory on cedar, might cost another $50. Compared to the $100 you have actually spent on prepping, you are now down $50.

Assuming decent grade western red cedar is the same cost in Wisc. as NU, your "true" cost is the cost of new wood. For a 200 sq. ft. deck floor, you would need ~400 linear ft. of 5/4 x 6 WRC at $3 per linear ft. That is $1200.

I would guesstimate that you have saved ~ $1150. Congrats!