Hi and Happy Holidays,
What is the best way to remove weather crust from exposed wood? There is a dark crust on much of our outdoor wood (the house is in Costa Rica and gets beaten by sun, rain, and wind). The crust sands off easily enough but the underlying wood is not flat and is extremely hard (teak?). My pad sander does not get into the valleys and sanding down the high spots is too slow even with 60 grit paper. Using the edge of the pad for the valleys is still slow.
Can the crust be removed chemically? Probably not advisable even if available here.
A belt sander would be more aggressive but is expensive. Would it be worth the expense?
A hand planer isn't that expensive here but I have no experience with one.
Power tools go for about 60% to 80% more here than in the U.S.
Much of the work will be done from a ladder. Two handed operation would be awkward. Safety is an issue.
Thanks, Gary