Stripping peeling paint or solid stain off a Medicine Hat deck

Solid stain and deck paint do not fade gracefully. They peel. One summer the deck looks fine, the next it is flaking in sheets on the sunny boards and holding on everywhere else. Recoating over that just adds another layer to peel.

Why painted decks peel

A film-forming finish sits on top of the wood instead of soaking in. Water gets under it at board ends, cracks and fasteners, the wood moves with the seasons, and the film lets go. Once it starts, it keeps going.

Why stripping is hard by hand

Chemical strippers struggle with multiple coats and soak into the wood. Sanding clogs paper instantly and still cannot reach between the boards, around balusters or under the nosing. Left-over paint in those spots shows through the next finish within a season. The full comparison is in blasting vs sanding a deck.

The parts of a deck that peel first are the parts a sander cannot reach. That is where the old paint has to come off most.

How we strip it

Wood is always blasted dry — no water forced into the boards, so you are not waiting days before you can seal. We use recycled crushed glass at low pressure, set so it lifts the paint without carving the soft grain. On fine or soft timber we test first. The media choices are covered in choosing media for wood.

South- and west-facing decks in Medicine Hat take hard afternoon sun and wind most of the summer, and those are the boards where solid stain gives up first. Plenty of owners switch to a penetrating stain after stripping so there is no film left to peel next time.

One thing to check

Composite boards should not be blasted at all — here is why. If your deck is a mix, tell us.