Deck splinters

[Michael Press]

My new-to-me house has a deck of unknown age; probably 8 years old based on an addition. The deck is pressure-treated lumber and is in very good condition except that it's beginning to splinter in places. The worst splinters are on the faces of a couple of boards; the splinters are several inches long and up to 1/8" thick. Other than these areas, the entire deck is in excellent condition.

Some questions: * Can pressure-treated lumber be sanded safely?

• Is a regular dust-mask sufficient protection against the chemical-laden dust?

• What grit paper, and what kind of sanding block works best? Doesn't sandpaper tear on nail heads?

• A few boards are splintering on their faces for about a foot from the end of the board. It would require a heck of a lot of sanding to remove all of the splinters - probably 1/8" . Is that feasible?

• Any other options, like a sealer or something that would just glue down any splinters that can't be sanded off?

I suppose I could just replace the affected boards, or even just the splintering couple of feet of a couple of boards; not sure if that would look funny. I'd probably still want to sand the handrails...

Thanks for any suggestions, Michael

[Rob-J]

It's not worth the time and effort to sand the boards. I would just pull them out and replace the boards.

[Chris Lewis]

According to Michael Press :

I'm not a "professional" in this area, I don't know how bad your deck actually is, and I'm not anal over "perfection" anyway, but this is what I do:

A coat or two of good quality stain will "glue" down most of the small splinters. Hazardous splinters I just snap off (usually when they

bite me ;-).

If the result is unacceptable, replace the board.

If there's some very rough bits, use relatively coarse sandpaper (like

60grit) to knock off the uncomfortable-to-feet or hands pointy bits.

In other words, a light scuff sanding. Don't try to turn it into fresh lumber. If it's splintering so badly that you need serious sanding, it was a bad piece of lumber, and you might as well replace it now. Sanding it that much just puts arsenic and chromium into the dirt, and you'll be thinking about sanding it again in a lot less than 8 years.

You'd be generating very little dust, so a dust mask would be more than adequate. Don't forget goggles. Shower afterwards.

Don't be downwind. Use power sanders with care. Wash everything off. Don't plant vegetables underneath it ;-)

If you're saying that the splintering is so bad that removal of an

1/8" is necessary to make it not-painful to step on, it's time to replace the board - it's defective.

Use solid stain on handrails and other verticals. Does a better job of gluing down/smoothing over the rough bits without requiring (much or any) sanding.

It's not that I'm particularly anal about sanding PT (I router the stuff in some cases!), it's just that a very splintery board is bad, and significant sanding is just accelerating its deterioration.

If you have to sand 1/8" off, you'll trip over the adjacent board ;-)

[D'Olier]

I heard that the dangers of PT wood are grossly exaggerated. I've heard that children should not touch it and houses with pets should not use it. All bu****it of course. As someone put it once, "yeah it might be dangerous; if you lick it for 24 hours a day every day for the next 40 years". I have sanded and sawn my PT deck and it's fine - but wearing a mask is always a good idea when sanding wood.

Paul

[Jeff Cochran]

Dust mask/breather

Anything that stops the particles.

Belt sander and remove or set nails. Not a hand sanding job.

Sure.

Not really.

Flip the boards. Gets double wear, thay've acclimated to the conditions and usually will weather to match in a year or less.

Jeff