Sanding Wood Decking Floor


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Old 07-23-12, 06:40 AM
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Sanding Wood Decking Floor

Howdy,

I have a sunroom attached to our house, which has a wood floor (all indoors). I'd like to restain this floor, but, I understand I should sand it first to remove the old finish.

I don't have a power sander. I heard I can rent a drum sander from home depot, but, I don't have a truck (or don't know anyone) to transport it back to my house. (My car is small, so i don't know if it'll fit).

An alternative for me would be to buy a small belt sander or orbital sander.

The area to sand is only about 10 x 10, so I don't mind putting in the extra work to get this done with the smaller tool (if it will work).

Would a belt sander or orbital sander work for something like this? I'm leaning towards a nice orbital sander.

Thanks
 
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Old 07-23-12, 06:56 AM
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Is the color of the floor wrong? You say re-stain but I'm wondering if all you need is a new coat of poly.
 
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Old 07-23-12, 07:41 AM
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The stain on the existing floor looks faded in certain places. We have sliding glass doors that enclose the sunroom, and I think the previous owners must have left them open during a rain storm, or maybe dropped liquid on the ground.

I'm looking to get the wood color uniform and looking nice rather than how it looks now.

I don't know anything about this area - so my father in law looked at it and said to re-stain it - so i can't comment on whether it needs stain vs a new poly coat.

I assumed i would sand and then stain, I bought: "Behr Transparent Weatherproofing Wood Finish" to use after I sand.
 
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Old 07-23-12, 07:57 AM
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Yep, sounds like restaining is what you need to do.

Could you do this with a ROS? Yes. Would I want to? No.

As to a belt sander, they're pretty aggressive, I'd be concerned about having an uneven result when you were done, having taken off too much in many areas. Maybe you have more skill with one than I do....
 
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Old 07-23-12, 09:16 AM
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Why wouldn't you want to use the orbital sander? Is it due to performance, or time constraints?

I've never used an electric sander before, so, I don't know the pros / cons. It does seem like the belt sander is aggressive, and I wouldn't want to damage the wood by accident.

The orbital sander looks more tame. If you think this will get the job done, I'm going to give it a try.

As I said, I don't mind if using an orbital sander takes longer - just as long as it'll work. I don't want to buy the wrong tool.
 
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Old 07-23-12, 09:28 AM
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Yeah, it will work but take a whole long longer to do than I would be willing to put up with.
 
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Old 07-23-12, 09:28 AM
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Could you post a pic or two of the porch floor? - http://www.doityourself.com/forum/el...-pictures.html

What type of wood is on the floor? has the sunroom always been enclosed or did it start out as a deck?

Orbital sanders will do fine sanding the floor...... if you have the patience
 
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Old 07-23-12, 09:58 AM
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marksr -

I'll post a picture when I get home tonight.

I don't know what type of wood it is. We bought the house a few years ago --- I believe the decking has always been enclosed.
 
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Old 07-23-12, 01:07 PM
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If you use a ROS, let it do the work. If it seems not to be doing the job, increase the size of grit. Then step down to about a 220 once you get it like you want it. DO NOT bear down on the ROS. You can pick up in the tool section stories of what NOT to do with one. They are great to work with, just don't get flustered and try to force it.
 
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Old 07-23-12, 02:29 PM
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I have taken a photo of the decking in the sunroom.

Hopefully I have attached it correctly...... Let me know what you think.
 
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Old 07-23-12, 03:21 PM
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That looks to be exterior decking - are the boards about 5.5" wide? PT wood doesn't poly very well but if the boards have been covered for a long time, I'm thinking they would be plenty dry enough for poly to work BUT you need to get the floor cleaned up first! If you are going to sand, start with a 80 grit. You can drop down to 60 grit if it isn't cutting fast enough. IMO you don't need to use 220 for the final sanding - usually 120-150 grit is good enough. 180-220 would be good for sanding the 1st coat of poly.
 
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Old 07-23-12, 03:57 PM
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marksr,

Thanks for the input. Yes, the boards are 5.5 inches wide.

As you recall, I'm a total noob. Here's the tools I'm looking to get - do you think they're OK for this job?

Dewalt 5 in Orbital Sander
Behr Weatherproofing Transparent Wood Stain

Here's a few more questions:

Should I use a nailset to drive down the nails in the boards prior to sanding?

I assume the poly coating is different than the Behr stain.... Any recommendations?

Thanks for all the tips.
 
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Old 07-23-12, 04:00 PM
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The 5" ROS is fine. Yes, I would set any nails that may pose a problem to the sandpaper. I'll let Marksr address the paint stuff.........I don't paint.
 
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Old 07-23-12, 04:16 PM
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HD may rent the bigger floor model ROS. They are about the size of a floor buffer and would fit in almost any vehicle with a trunk or hatch. Might be an option.
 
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Old 07-24-12, 04:10 AM
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Since it's inside you have 2 options for the floor coatings. A transparent or toner stain should work fine as long as the wood cleans up well. It's an exterior deck stain and won't need poly. Poly would only be used if you were to apply an interior wood stain and finish the floor like you would interior hardwood.
 
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Old 07-24-12, 05:29 AM
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The type of product you chose would be fine but I would personally get a deck stain from a paint store, not a paint department in a big store.

Cabbot, Sikkens, Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams deck stains tend to get the most praise from members on this site.
 
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Old 07-28-12, 04:46 PM
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Hey Everybody,

Well, I got the Milwaukee ROS and 60 git paper. Here's my results so far testing it out on the decking.

I had a question about the nails in the wood. They seem like they'd need to be set further down into the wood. I have a nailset, but, the nails don't seem to be going down any further. What's the opinion on just using lighter grit and slower spin and lightly going over them to get the wood sanding around the nails.

You can see from the picture, the darker circles are where there are nails, and I didn't want to get too close w/ the sander.

Regardless, am I on the right track w/ what I've done thus far?
Name:  deck.jpg
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First time doing this!
 
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Old 07-28-12, 04:57 PM
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Assuming those are regular deck nails and not finish nails - you really need a small diameter punch to knock the nails down further. I'd be leery of sanding the nails because if you go thru the galvanize, the nail is more prone to rust.

Other than where the nails are it looks great! I think your more ambitious than me
 
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Old 07-31-12, 12:24 PM
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Hey All,

I am about 2/3 done the floor that I was working on. So far, everything looks good. The sander did a good job and trapping most of the saw dust, however, I still have some shavings and dust on the floor that needs to get cleaned up. I don't have a shop vac, and the dust buster and floor vacuum got most of it.

I'm thinking, I may need to wipe the rest up w/ a 'wet rag'. The floor is cedar. Is there some product I could use to 'clean up' the wood that'll pick up the dust, etc?

I've read about mineral spirits, but, I don't know if that'll work for me. As I said, the floor is sanded cedar, so, whatever will work well w/ that is what I'm looking for.

It's been a slow process, and I probably won't be able to finish the rest of the floor for another week or so...... wife is pregnant due any day now!


Thanks again!
 
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Old 07-31-12, 02:07 PM
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A wet [but not dripping] mineral spirits rag will work fine if you are using a solvent based coating. You can use a rag wet with water [again not dripping] if you use a waterbased coating. Hopefully you can keep everyone out of the room until after you get a finish on it.

Will this be your first kid? if so, life will never be the same congratulations!
 
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Old 09-15-12, 07:37 PM
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Not sure if you are still checking this but I'm curious to know if you used a belt sander or an orbital sander? Or both?
 
 

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