Deck Refinishing

Our deck refinishing service covers everything from aggressive stripping of old paint or failed solid stain to multi-pass sanding with belt and orbital sanders that leave your decking boards smooth, open, and ready to absorb a quality penetrating stain. We work on pressure-treated lumber, cedar, and composite-adjacent wood species throughout London, Woodstock, Brantford, St. Thomas, and beyond. Whether your boards are gray from UV neglect or tacky with a latex paint that should never have been used outdoors, we have the equipment and the know-how to reverse it.

Applying a new coat over old, failed film-forming stain or latex deck paint is one of the most common — and costly — mistakes homeowners make. The new product has nothing solid to bond to, and within one freeze-thaw cycle it begins to peel just as badly as what's underneath. Proper refinishing starts by removing every trace of the old coating through chemical stripping, power washing, and mechanical sanding. Only then can a high-quality penetrating stain soak into the wood grain and form a durable, breathable bond that handles Ontario's seasonal extremes.

Our process uses professional-grade chemical strippers where needed, followed by hot-water pressure washing to flush residue, and then belt-sanding and random-orbital finishing passes to bring the wood to a clean, uniform surface. We adjust our approach based on the original coating type — paint, solid stain, semi-solid, or tinted sealer — because the removal method matters for how the wood looks and accepts the new product. The extra steps add time, but the result is a refinish that lasts four to six years rather than peeling off in the first spring.

Heavy refinishing work sometimes reveals structural issues that a quick recoat would have hidden. Soft spots, end-grain checking, and rot pockets around fasteners show up clearly on a bare-sanded board. Before we apply a single drop of stain, we walk the deck with you and flag any boards that should be replaced rather than refinished. It's better to know now than to refinish over compromised wood that will fail in a season. We're WSIB-covered and fully insured, so there are no shortcuts taken on any job across our Southwestern Ontario service area.

In many cases a few board replacements and a full refinish extend the life of a deck by eight to ten years — far cheaper than a full rebuild. We source pressure-treated and cedar lumber locally, and we prime cut ends before installation to slow moisture absorption. Once structural work is done, the sanding and staining phase goes smoothly because every surface is consistent. The finished deck looks better than it did when it was new, and the penetrating oil-based stain we apply protects the wood from the inside out rather than sitting on top waiting to peel.

A full refinish is also the best time to change direction on colour. Once you're down to bare wood, you're not locked into your original tone — we help homeowners across London and the surrounding region choose between transparent, semi-transparent, and semi-solid finishes depending on how much wood grain they want to show versus how much UV protection they need. Older or more weathered wood often benefits from a slightly richer semi-transparent tone that evens out natural gray and knot variation while still letting the grain read through.

We use professional-grade penetrating stains from trusted manufacturers, applied by brush and back-rolled to work product deep into the grain rather than leaving a thin surface film. Two-coat applications are standard on bare sanded wood because the first coat is absorbed quickly and the second coat provides the working film that protects against water, UV, and the freeze-thaw cycling Ontario decks face every year. We walk you through the colour options, bring samples to your property, and give you a written estimate before any work begins. No surprises on price, no surprises on colour.