I'm trying to resurface a deck that is fairly weather worn and cupped, but not cracking enough to replace the lumber. It's about a 400 ft^2 deck composed of treated 2x6's. I need to remove all the decking to inspect and repair some of the base. I figure I have 3 or 4 options for resurfacing:
1) Run a floor drum sander over the whole thing. Reasonable cost . . . $70 to rent a sander. Fairly straight forward but a little difficult to get into corners. Also have to deal with sanding a fair amount of treated lumber.2) Run all the boards through a planer. Although these boards have not seen a lot of use, they have seen a fair amount of exposure. I realize that they would probably trash a set of planar knives ($45). Is it reasonable to think that I can plane 400 ft^2 before the knives need to be replaced or resharpened?
3) Flip the boards over. This probably makes the most amount of sense, but about 25% of the deck is cut on an angle. After reuse, I'd still have to but a dozen new boards.Any other options? Anyone been through the same dilemma? Any suggestions?
Thanks, Mike