Sand is mainly composed of quartz and the particles are frequently coated with iron oxides which give sands a colouring from yellows to rich browns. Those sands that do not have any iron oxides are termed 'silver sands'. It is simply a name and does not have any particular horticultural implications. Any sand will do provided it is washed free from contaminants and is of the graded size of particles that you require. You sometime see 'river sand' recommended and again there is no particular characteristic appertaining to horticultural use exept that it is likely that the particles will be very rounded and very clean. My Website

New wood will have a raised grain after priming. It requires sanding to knock down the raised grain. Sand primer with #220 grit aluminum oxide sanding sponge. Always use a second coat of paint. Michael

Hi Eleena! If this were my wall(s), I'd try a heavier wallpaper scraping blade with a handle first. * If that doesn't work, apply one coat of primer, & let dry. * I'd hire someone experienced to re-skim the wall to be truthful!! * It's too easy for a DIY-er to mess up a truly smooth skim-job. No offense, but it does take a practiced hand! * After skim-coat is well dried, prime again & paint. * I've seen a couple coats of primer on RR, and it's not smooth. Still looked fairly sandy to me anyway. Hey ICIDave! I don't work @ HD, but our store sells a fair amount of RL. Seems like we have to call the ####6343 to order ~ monthly. Best selling bases here are the Eggshell Deeptone & Neutral...RL359201 & RL359301. This past Feb., we ordered in ~550 gallons. That was fun...arranging that load in the stockroom! Later guys! Faron

Looks to me like someone misused a power washer on the deck & with too much pressure it made grooves in the wood. If you don't like those grooves I think you have maybe 4 choices... 1. Drive the existing nails slightly deeper into the wood & rent a heavy duty sander, clean & oil it per pressurepro's advice. This is not necessarily a job for beginners (depending on the sander you use) but is an option. 2. Pull all the boards up (looks like you have a lot of straight runs), flip them & make sure they are acceptable on the reverse side, nail or preferably screw those back down, clean & oil. If you want to get fancy then screw & plug the holes & then clean & oil. 3. Pull all the boards up, plane the boards, clean & oil. 4. Replace all the old boards w/ new. If you did that then you need to choose between the myriad of deck board options. Depends on how much effort you want to put into it & the end result you want. If you are OK w/ the grooves then just do as pressurepros said.