How to Strip, Clean and Restain a Weathered Deck Step by Step

A simple bottle of water is the first test Ricky uses to decide whether a deck needs refinishing: pour it on the boards, and if it soaks in instead of beading, the stain is no longer protecting. On the gray, weathered deck in this Lowe's How To Anything episode, the water soaked in directly, and the same test is repeated at the end of the job.

Prep and board repair

The furniture is removed and dust and debris blown off. Before any intensive cleaning, the deck is checked for boards that need repair. This one is in good shape, but for a bad board the nails or screws come out, the board is removed, the opening is measured with a tape measure, and the new board is cut to leave about 1/8 inch of gap.

Stripping the old stain

Valspar Fast Acting Wood Stripper goes into a pressure washer and onto the whole deck, then a stiff push broom agitates the old sealer. It sits for 15 minutes. The deck must be misted during that time, because if the sun dries the stripper, dark spots result. Because the whole deck gets wet and is stained later, the forecast should show sunshine for the next few days.

Pressure washing technique

The white tip, a 40° tip, covers a lot of deck without tearing it up. Keep the same height for the whole stroke and lift at the end, which is called feathering. Never turn the pressure washer on or off directly on the deck, which can gouge the wood. Near the house, where the strokes run against the grain, stay a little farther away. Overlap strokes at least 50%. A garden hose then rinses off stripper residue, with extra attention to plants near the house.

Cleaning and drying

While the deck is still wet, Valspar All-in-One Wood Prep is applied with the pressure washer. It cleans, brightens, and helps remove stains and rust. After 15 minutes it is rinsed off. Because wood is so absorbent, the deck then dries for at least 48 hours.

Sanding, taping, and staining

Spots the stripper missed are sanded with a random orbital sander and fine sandpaper, feathered into the rest of the deck, and dust is blown off with a leaf blower. The house is taped off and other areas covered with contractor's paper, which absorbs stain, whereas plastic lets stain sit and run down.

The stain is Valspar One-Coat Exterior Stain and Sealer. A smaller pad does the corner and a 9-inch pad the larger areas. A roller doesn't hold the stain and splashes it. Hold the pad for about a second to drain some stain, work with the grain, pad out puddles with a dry pad since puddles solidify and never soak in, and work in sections, especially in sun, so the stain blends.

Stairs and final test

The vertical fascia is sprayed with an airless sprayer and backed up with a pad. Without a sprayer, stain in a spray bottle can be sprayed on and patted out. Spraying makes sense because of the many 90° angles and nooks. The final water test shows the water beading up.