Hi everyone,
I am looking for some advice as I prepare to redo our deck (balcony deck on the first floor of the house). The previous owners painted it (or had it painted), and the paint is worn out in high-traffic areas (but it's still apparently holding strong elsewhere). The railing also needs some work, with disintegrating post caps and trim (at the foot of the post--I hope that's descriptive enough!)
My research suggests that painting decks is a mistake (and I'm not a huge fan of it anyway), so I was planning on applying a paint stripper, power wash, sand, and then stain/seal. However, I'd like to keep the railing painted for obvious aesthetic reasons.
I'm no DYI specialist -- I have sanded and refinished floors, fixed some plaster hole, sanded, and repainted walls, put up some wallpaper... this kind of things. That's the extent of it, though, and I have never had a deck before. I thought that it would be enough experience for this project, but now I am seeing information that I need to check under the boards for mold, and other more involved actions which I don't feel confident undertaking (basically rebuilding the deck from scratch for the more catastrophe-loving advisers... Yay Internet!)
So I guess I'm coming to you talented bunch for two things:
1) a plan! Was mine OK, does it need to be altered, do I need to subcontract it? How much time does a slow worker need to plan for this (surface is 150 sq feet at most)? Alternately, do you have a trustworthy resource to recommend to better prep for this project?
2) details - do you have reco for supplies? I was planning on borrowing the sander and renting the power washer, any compelling reason to invest in the later?
Thanks for any info -- I tend to disregard disaster warnings, but I've had an unlucky month and apparently this is getting to me :p