Restaining A Deck Without Stripping It First

Has your deck stain seen better days? Maybe it's faded unevenly or the color just isn't right anymore. Restaining can breathe new life into tired decking without the backbreaking work of stripping off the old finish first.

Recoating stained decks often gets put off because homeowners dread the laborious prep--endless sanding, scraping, and stripping to bare wood. But with the right products and techniques, you can refresh deck stain without removing all traces of old coating.

Why Restain a Deck Without Stripping

Skipping the stripping step saves a ton of time and lets you avoid the mess and hassle of completely removing deck stain. Prepping to simply recoat stained boards is much simpler if you don't have to strip down to raw wood first.

Sanding to smooth roughness is still advised, but not as aggressively. You mainly just want to scuff up the existing finish so the new stain can grab hold. If the current coating is still fairly intact, the next stain layer may adhere fine without even sanding.

The whole point of avoiding a full strip is that the old stain doesn't have to be taken fully off. Just cleaning, light sanding, spot stripping any bad areas of failing finish, and applying fresh stain right over gives a like-new look.

Saves Time

Having to strip deck boards to bare wood before restaining is incredibly time consuming. Just the stripping process alone can take 20+ hours spread over several days for a medium-sized deck. Tack on etched wood drying time, sanding, and cleaning--suddenly your weekend project becomes a marathon.

Restaining without stripping saves vast amounts of time. Thorough cleaning, light sanding if needed, and recoat application is all that's required. In many cases, the new deck stain can be rolled on the same day as preparing the surface instead of waiting days for stripped boards to dry.

Avoids Mess

Chemical deck strippers are nasty stuff. Brushing or spraying it on releases toxic fumes and drips that harm plants and stain concrete and clothing. Neutralizing and rinsing off the dissolved old finish leaves a slimy, gunky mess.

Skipping the strip step lets you avoid this headache. A basic brightener solution, moderate sanding, and hosing off is all that's needed. Cleanup takes minutes with a garden hose instead of hours with buckets of water and rinse aids like an etching wash.

Simpler Prep Work

All the prep work required before restaining a deck is vastly simpler without fully stripping first. Instead of having to:

• Spend hours scraping off peeling coatings
• Use a drum sander rental to smooth stripped boards
• Neutralize chemical residue
• Wait days for etched wood to dry

You can just:

• Clean with a deck brightener
• Lightly sand stained areas
• Power wash
• Let dry 1-3 hours

Skipping the strip step saves huge amounts of grueling surface prep work. And since you aren't exposing raw wood, waiting days or weeks before sealing isn't necessary.

May Avoid Much Sanding

If the remaining stain is mostly intact without widespread flaking and peeling, sanding may not even be needed. When the old finish still has decent grip, a compatible new coating can bond right on.

However, if weathering has left behind a lot of rough fiber wood exposure, some smoothing is advised so staining turns out evenly. How aggressively you need to sand depends on the surface texture.

Rather than sanding thoroughly to bare wood, just a light scuff sand focuses on the roughest areas. This roughs things up enough for the stain to grab well but doesn't remove all traces of old finish.

Choosing a Stain for Restaining Without Stripping

Certain types of deck stain coat over existing finishes much better than others. Some key properties to look for in a product designed to recoat without stripping first include:

Oil-Based and Gel Stains

Oil-based stains penetrate deeper for superior bonding than latex or water-based versions. The oils impart good flow and viscosity for covering old stain residues.

Gel stains are ultra thick for hiding underlying colors and textures. Restaining without removing all old finish often leaves some spots and lines peeking through no matter how many coats are applied. But thick gels do a better job of masking these.

Solid Color Stains

When refinishing a deck without stripping, tinted semi-solid and solid stains are better at obscuring the old color underneath. Where thinner penetrating and semi-transparent stains interact with the previous tone, solid hides better.

Of course, this also largely obscures the natural wood grain. So if you want the color changed but still see wood texture, a darker semi-transparent is another option.

Stains with Bonding Primers

Some deck refinish products designed for recoating without removal of all old finish contain additives like bonding primers. These help the new stain chemically graft to the aged, weathered layer underneath.

Bonding additives result in superior adhesion compared to attempting to recoat with everyday stains lacking this stick factor. Just hosing off dirt isn't enough for typical stains to bind well.

Compatible with Existing Stain

Before picking out a new deck stain color or brand, check what originally finished the wood. Oil-based coatings stick best to old oil stains, while latex acrylics bond better to previous water-based finishes.

Ideally, the new product will be from the same stain family or at least the same oil vs. water-based type. Some labels clearly state compatibility over existing finishes of the same or different chemistry.

Prep Steps to Restain a Deck Without Stripping

Proper prep work is crucial when applying fresh deck stain without chemically stripping everything first down to bare wood. This process involves:

Clean Deck Thoroughly

A deck brightener solution helps cut through dirt, mildew stains, pollen, and other gunk on the surface. Scrubbing with a stiff brush loosens debris further.

After letting the brightener sit 15-20 minutes, rinse off with a powerful stream from a garden hose. Pay special attention to crevices and hidden areas under railings and behind steps.

Once the wood dries completely, visually inspect for remaining dark mildew spots or deeply embedded dirt that may need a second application. Proper cleaning is crucial for finish bonding.

Lightly Sand

Sanding with 30-80 grit paper smooths out rough areas for uniform staining. Focus on locations where weathering degraded old finish, without removing all traces of coating.

Use a random orbital sander for flat areas and hand sanding blocks to scuff spindles, posts, and balusters. Don't aggressively grind wood down to bare surface--just a quick scuffing.

Vacuum up all dust so it doesn't get stuck in the new finish. Tack cloth the boards as a final step to remove fine debris.

Apply Wood Filler

Inspect around old lag screws, nails, and bolts for cracks or holes that opened up. Carefully dig out loose wood fibers before filling with exterior-grade filler.

Also fill any splinters, checks, or voids exposed from light sanding. Apply filler over bare wood inside these defects before coating the whole deck.

Use a putty knife or heavy-duty plastic scraper to lift badly flaking sections still clinging on in spots after sanding and power washing. Get into corners along edges or hidden areas under rail posts.