How To Use A Floor Sander On A Deck

In this video you ll learn how to prep and sand a weathered cedar deck with a regular orbital sander.

How to use a floor sander on a deck.

Floor sanders can only sand surfaces that are perfectly flat and deck boards are slightly curved. That means it will take off too much in some sections and not enough in others. This is because the abrasive sandpaper motion travels in an irregular pattern instead of a consistent line or circle. Please subscribe to my channel.

A random orbital sander is a specialized tool that sands wood in an elliptical pattern and it s the most efficient sander to use when refinishing a deck. Random orbital sanders are easy to use and are effective for this task. A flooring drum sander removes too much material too quickly to use safely on a deck. By using a floor sander correctly sanding a floor can be a much simpler process.

If you don t know what you re doing sanding a deck can be many hours of back breaking work. Most decks are made from softwoods and the surface is more uneven than an interior floor. Sand the deck with an orbital floor sander. If the decking boards are made from a hardwood like teak and they are warped use coarse 20 grit sandpaper for your first pass.

Every time you run over a bump on a deck with a drum sander you re likely to create a deep gouge.