First of all...sorry that this is a quasi double-post. I cannot seem to find the thread I had posted to yesterday. In any case, I have some new info and want to get this clear from the start.

I have a red cedar deck, that has Flood CWF Oil based stain on it. I believe it also has some layers of clear sealant (also CWF), as the previous owner left this in the garage along with the stain. The first year I was there, it was fading and looking weathered, so I cleaned it and put a new coat of the stain (not the clear sealant) on. It looked OK.

Now its a couple of Chicago winters later, and the thing is looking terrible. A large amount of the surface is actually PEELING. I'm sure this has something to do with my mistake of putting the stain over what might have been a clear coating. However, at this point the portions that are peeling look like bare wood underneath. So I'm not entirely sure what is going on - maybe too many coats were on there and the surface coats are all coming off.

Basically, I'm now trying to determine the best way to deal with it myself. I've attempted some Cabot brand stripper in a small area, and it did not do much (but a little). I called a few deck places, and only one called me back so far. It was actually a handyman service, and I'm not sure they know what they are talking about. They told me not to even try to strip it - that it was too much work. They said they would simply powerwash it and restain. I mentioned this would end up with an uneven / splotchy look, but the guy swore it would not - thoughts?

Right now I have a few ideas...

1) pay a ton of money to have someone professionally fix it. I really don't want to do this as I've had a lot of house related expenses lately

2) Attempt stripping it myself with some stuff avail in stores. I was told about MD80, but cannot locate it, and I'm not entirely comfortable using something that strong. I was thinking of trying a couple treatments of the Cabot or some Flood branded stripper. Then I would follow that up with light sanding to prep the wood for new stain(probably with a small orbital sander). I'm not sure I'd get everything, especially the vertical surfaces which are hard to get to. The hope would be that I'd at least get the surface layers, and then placing a couple coats of another oil based stain of darker color would cover up the old splotches. Is this reasonable?

3) Rent a more powerful sander, and sand the whole thing down. I'm really not excited about this idea either, because I feel I'd be getting in over my head and could cause some damage

Let me know what you think. The really big question is whether or not I can get away with stripping only the surface coat (and spraying away the flakes). My hope / presumption is that a darker stain will cover the splotchiness, as the handyman claimed.

Thanks,

Jeff