Deck Area, painted incorrectly does it need to be sanded?

I have a rather large deck area to the side of my apartment...Last year on the advice of a carpenter (duh!) I painted the deck (as it had been untreated) with a wood paint product recommended for fences. Carpenter said it should be fine....As it happens its not fine..During the winter when the deck was wet the surface was dangerously slippy and the finish was unsatisfactory...So it needs to be repainted. Question is do I need to sand it back first to get rid of the stuff I painted it with or will it be ok if I simply use an appropriate deck treatment product? I painted it with a Ronseal wood product recommended for fences.

Most of those water based fence treatment products are suitable only for rough sawn timber in applications such as sheds, fencing, cladding etc. Decking is a milled product comparable to a planed timber and is not suitable for treatment with these products. It will be difficult to remove the product now (difficult as in hard work but not impossible). You may be able to remove the bulk of it by scrubbing with a stiff brush and water. When dry abrade the remainder using coarse sanding pads or green scouring pads. Use a suitable decking product to finish the job.

Sounds like a big job to me...Deck area is pretty huge! Can anyone recommend someone who could do the job? North Dublin....Sanding then repainting!

Is it an option for you to turn the deck boards up side down?

I don't think so although thats a clever idea! Deck area is massive so it would involve a lot of uprooting of planks that might damage I think..I should drag back the original gobsh*te who said paint would be ok...Family friend...*groan*
Thanks guys though for the feedback...much appreciated...Lesson learned :-(

Lauren said:

I don't think so although thats a clever idea! Deck area is massive so it would involve a lot of uprooting of planks that might damage I think..I should drag back the original gobsh*te who said paint would be ok...Family friend...*groan*(

Click to expand...

You may well find that your boards are reversible. I had to it lift mine in advance of an extension being built a couple of years ago and it was relatively easy to put them back (certainly a lot easier than sanding). Assuming they were screwed in (and not nailed), it should be relatively straightforward.

Ok well I'll certainly have a look...worth a shot I supppose...I think they are screwed down actually...thank you!

A better option might be to get it sand blasted(Fine sand blown at high pressure),this will return the wood to the original state before you had any paint/stain on it.Only take an hour or two.Look up the golden pages in your area,I'm also pretty sure you can hire them out but it think they call them Shot blasters.