Stripping & Refinishing in Nashville, TN

Why Peeling Finishes Peel

A penetrating stain soaks in and wears away gradually. A film - a solid stain, a paint, or a penetrating stain applied too heavily - sits on top, and on a walking surface it gets scuffed, lets water in behind it, and starts to lift. The USDA Forest Products Laboratory advises against ordinary solid stains on deck boards for exactly this reason: they lack the abrasion resistance for foot traffic and tend to peel.

Back to Bare Wood

Once a film has started letting go, a new coat on top will fail with it. Stripping removes the old finish with a stripper chosen for what is on the deck, followed by a neutraliser to bring the wood back into balance and a light sanding where the grain has been raised. After that the deck is treated like clean wood: it dries, and a finish chosen so it will not peel again goes on - usually a penetrating semi-transparent stain, with solid colour kept for railings where it performs well.

Stripping sometimes turns up boards that were being held together by the old coat. Those get replaced as part of the job through board repair, and if the surface is too far gone, resurfacing may be the better value.

Where We See It

Painted decks and porches on older houses in East Nashville and Sylvan Park, solid-stained ranch decks in Donelson and Green Hills, and larger decks in Brentwood and Bellevue where a heavy finish was chosen to save time.

How long does it take? Two to three days is typical: strip, neutralise and dry, then refinish.