is this paint or stain?

[Fanatical Meat]

I finally have time to clean up our deck. I know the base/floor is stain I'm not sure about the railing. The peeling and the peeled piece seem rubbery so I am assuming its paint. I'd prefer stain but I don't think I'll be able to remove all of the paint on the railings. Color will stay white. Suggestions on something that can tolerate a ton of sun light and not peel off soon?

Railing:

Base of railing:

Chip in my hand that bends:

 

[Blain]

Prep work is the key to a long lasting paint job.
The posts are so weathered, treat them as though you are painting raw wood for the first time, except for scraping off the old paint first.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Thanks I'm sanding them to smooth them out as best as possible. I'm assuming a thicker paint will fill the cracks better do you agree?

 

[Blain]

Prime, prime, prime!
I would prime the heck out of that wood, at least twice.

 

[highland145]

Oil solid color stain FTW. 10 years form now, light pressure wash and re stain.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

After a ton of scraping & sanding with marginal results I'm trying out some paint stripper. I'd love to get it clean and stain the whole deck. Still can't figure out why the railing is paint.

 

[edro]

Not much difference between acrylic stains and paints, especially if it is solid pigment stain.
I would scrub it with a stiff brush and try to get as much off as you can, then go over it with a high quality solid pigment deck stain (2 coats).
It will seal in any chunks left over.

It will be very difficult to get all of the paint off with the ability to stain it with a wood colored semi-transparent stain. That wood is pretty weathered, so the grain is open and paint is in the nooks and crannies.

 

[Anubis]

Not much difference between acrylic stains and paints, especially if it is solid pigment stain.
I would scrub it with a stiff brush and try to get as much off as you can, then go over it with a high quality solid pigment deck stain (2 coats).
It will seal in any chunks left over.

It will be very difficult to get all of the paint off with the ability to stain it with a wood colored semi-transparent stain. That wood is pretty weathered, so the grain is open and paint it in the nooks and cranies.

rent a power washer!

you can get everything off before you paint/stain/whatever

 

[Fanatical Meat]

After many delays deck is primed and painted. I used a Sherman Williams primer made for decks and their higher end acrylic paint. The paint does seem to stick to the primer very well. Good advice guys thank.

I know its not perfect but that was not a reasonable goal given what I had to work with

Railing **before**

Same railing after

Base of railing **before**

After much sanding and fill

 

[highland145]

Looks good. Wanna come paint my fence?

 

[NutBucket]

Nice work. Painting railing sucks.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Looks good. Wanna come paint my fence?

I'm going to be Tom Sawyer on that offer.

 

[tracerbullet]

Holy wow, huge difference. Nice job.

 

[gururu2]

Yes that looks awesome. Did you end up getting every scrape of paint off or did you leave some in the grains and dents?

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Yes that looks awesome. Did you end up getting every scrape of paint off or did you leave some in the grains and dents?

On the railing I got almost all of it out but it was a long task. Blast with power washer, sand, sand problem spots by hand, pick out small chunks in the wood, sand again, sand again, sand again, fill the real bad spots with wood filler, sand.
I tried some paint remover that was not going to be feasible for the entire deck. I forgot the name its sold at home depot and its orange. Worked pretty good but you had to complete the job in the shade and it still left enough paint that is wasn't bare wood if you have a family heirloom you need to clean up and repaint I'd recommend this paint remover.
Thanks for the input guys I appreciate it.