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My deck wood has become very, very rough and will cause splinters if you slide your hand along the rail. The floor is in as bad a shape with the grain on the wood raised. I truly cannot afford to have the wood replaced, and am in a quandry as to what I can do to repair this. I have to wear shoes when on the deck and I cannot tell you the splinters have had to remove from my hands from holding onto the railings. I tried to sand it once but perhaps did not use the right sandpaper, and maybe I just got discouraged too quick :) My question is this: Is there any way to repair this damaged wood, perhaps by sanding? Is there a particular grade sandpaper I should use? And should I waterproof or seal the wood should I be able to repair it. I appreciate any help or information.
Sounds like you need to sand, start with a coarser sandpaper to get the roughness evened out, then switch to a finer paper to make the surface smoother. Then definitely seal it. The problem is if the wood wasn't properly sealed before, it may already be rotting, and if that's happening then sanding isn't going to do much, the wood will just flake and splinter off again. But if it's not rotting, then the sanding and then finishing should help you. There are also companies that do deck restoration, if you can afford it that may be your best option, especially if the deck is large doing it yourself could take quite some time.
ecrane3's advice is good. You may want to rent a flooring edge sander to try on the rails. It should make the job a lot quicker than with a small sander.
If the nails or screws are well below the surface, a portable power planer could take off more surface quickly before sanding. I have a cheap Harbor Freight 3.25" planer that I use when "table carvings" are deeper than I can remove with sanding in a few minutes. Grafitti - arrgghhh! replacement blades were only $7, so if I tear some up, it's not a "big deal".
