Hello, Im about to strip & stain my deck..and just had a few questions.



I have some cracks in the wood that are about 1/8 inch think and about 1 inch deep in
spots. Only like 3 or 4 boards are affected like that. The rest have even smaller
cracks. I took a pic of one of the 1/8 inch cracks here -



http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/5994/deck1j.jpg



Should I get a tube of wood cement and just fill in those cracks before staining ?



2 coats of stain seem recommended on most sites.. Some even say 2 coats of stain and
1 coat of paint on top. Any thoughts on that ? Seems like a little too much since
most decks need to be re-stained once every 3 to 4 years anyway.



Also, about the stripping.. Has anyone used a pressure washer trying to strip a deck
before ? Decent results ? Im debating whether or not to rent one out.



And not sure if I should put the paint stripper material on first before pressure
washing . maybe a lot will come off without needing paint stripper ?



I remember when I used normal stripper last time and just used a garden hose, certain
woods seem much harder to remove the stain from. Like these posts that support the
deck -



http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/3527/deck2q.jpg



Its like the stain gels into there forever.. Its been 5 years and it still looks like
that. If I cant remove the stain from those posts, should I just paint over it ? Im
planning on using a lighter colored paint this time. Light brownish.



An overview of the big task at hand -



http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/7353/deck3t.jpg



any help is much appreciated.. you guys have always been a big help in the past.



John