The risk you run is that the hot summer sun will start to gray the decking before you get a chance to stain it. Here's an example of my garapa deck, where the stairs went in 3 weeks after the main decking.

We ended up resanding the whole thing right before we stained it.

No reasealing necessary. Stain with DECKING stain.

I can see, from your photo that I need to stain the deck before 2 weeks goes by, or I'll have to re-sand it. Thanks! Great advice. Now that I know sealing to prevent damage in the interim isn't an option, I'll get a move on.

Just use deck sealer when you are ready to do the job, no need for any sealer in between. What grit paper did you use for the sanding and I SURE HOPE YOU USED A RESPIRATOR MASK AND A HEPA VACUUM TO CLAN UP.

I used sikkens on my deck and it's peeling. I used a stripper and power sprayer and it's working ok. Can you sand the surface if the nails were driven in from the top?

To CaptRandy,

We used 80 grit sandpaper and plan to use that for sanding the railing too. What do you think?

80 grit is the finest I would go. I prefer stripper over sanding.

The railing is 10 months old pt wood that has never been sealed or stained. We built the railings last fall. So we thought the best prep would be sanding. What do you think?

It has no sealer on it just wash it with a brightener and let it dry to 12% then seal all areas.

O.K No sanding the railings. So could we use a household bleach solution of 1 part bleach to 4 parts water to wash it?

NO BLEACH, a deck brightener Bleach "kills" the wood.

Got it. No bleach. Another question. Is there any reason to use a cleaner and brightener of the deck floor before staining since it has been sanded at least 2mm? It is OK to hose it with water instead and let it dry for 48 hours? It is CCA wood that is about 20 years old. I called TWP and they advised using a cleaner and brightener on the deck floor before staining even though I told them it had been sanded. I thought cleaners and brighteners on CCA wood was not a good idea. It is bad enough we had to sand it! What would the next step be before staining?

It would be getter to use the brightener on it to be sure no mold exists and to purge any dirt from the wood. Just be sure it is dry to 12% moisture content not by number of days drying.

CaptRandy, Thanks so much for all the tips! Do we need both a cleaner and a brightener or can we use just a brightener? Are the combination products, cleaner/brightener good?

We are using a stripper to get rid of the remaining white solid stain, as you suggested. It is woring but we have to power wash to remove the softened paint.

Cleaner/brightener in one be sure to use the brightener on the spindles as well to neutralize the stripper.