Sand man

The white bag is where the sawdust goes.

 Our cedar decks are 13 years old and they are starting to show it. We've tried various elixirs and strippers, sealers and stains, and power washing over the years with mixed results. Today we went bold and rented a sander from Home Depot. They get $37 plus materials and tax for four hours, so we scurried along, not sure how much time the project would take. Besides, it's going to rain tonight and when it will quit is anybody's guess these days.

Our Inspector notes the before and after.

With a little instruction, we figured out how to fire up the machine and start grinding away. We immediately liked the results we were getting. The sander doesn't make too much noise, but it has one hell of a vibration to it, as it oscillates back and forth, scratching at the wood grain. The entire house picked up on its harmonics. . . it was loudest down in the basement, which hummed like a sawmill.
We share a common wall with Tom and Sandy. Tom soon came out in the yard to report (with a big grin) that Sandy said there were whitecaps in the bathtub.
We got both decks sanded down quickly and had the machine back to Home Depot with a good half hour to spare. The sander has a vacuum on it, so there wasn't too big of a mess left behind.
It's a complicated transaction, what with the $125 deposit, damage insurance, hourly rate, tax, returned materials, military discount and so on, so we're not sure what will end up on the credit card, but we think it will net out at around $55. Which is not bad, not bad at all for two decks. A gallon of Thompson's low end waterseal is $20.
Now we're not sure what to do next. Let it go? Seal it with Thompson's? Stain it?
It is going to rain on it for the next week so it will be a while before we have to decide. We'll wait indoors.

Hai took this picture when Katie wasn't looking. He's the one who got the beer  for a prop and made Stan hold the cord.
Stan would never do anything like this behind Katie's back.