On Mon, 3 Mar 2008 20:37:35 -0800 (PST), wrote:

Had house painters in last June. By mistake, they "painted" the
outside deck.

The cedar railings actually look fine. They used a different color and
paint for the "deck" deck -- that is the part of the deck you walk on.

The deck has gotten little, if any use since they painted. Indeed, no
one used it for three full weeks after painting, as the house was
vacant.

Anyway, the winter rains came and all the paint on the walking part of
the deck is peeling and coming up in big strips. It will continue to
be damp and rainy here for three or so more months, but is there any
special way I can clean up this mess now?

Obviously, I am thinking scraping and sanding, but that is sort of
tough in the rain. Pressure washing?

Part of the deck is something called "sun wood" doug fir, part is red
cedar and along the sides is Pressure treated fir. Doesn't seem to
matter, all is peeling.

Called the painter, doesn't seem to want to respond.


The deck should be stained, not painted. Wait until the rain stops,
then scrape and sand. Cabot Decking stain is what I use--it comes in
several colors and will last 3-5 years. The preparation work is the
bulk of the work and in your case you have the extra step of removing
the paint. Pressure washing a deck may damage/swell wood fibers.