Wood Deck Removal Tool 4-1/2 in.

So, I’m not one to typically provide a product review, but this tool solved a significant problem for me. My wife and I have been manually attempting to strip our 400 sq ft deck for the past 2-3 years. It was covered with thick 20+ year old paint with sand mixed in it which stymied any more traditional paint removal methods (paint remover, sanding, hand scraping, etc.). This tool is wickedly efficient at removing paint. Because it relies on blades as the point of contact, there is no gumming up of the tool like sandpaper. As someone said, it’s an aggressive tool, which is not an understatement. After finishing our deck, I still have more than 50% of the blades remaining, so the manufacturer’s claim of 1000 sq. ft seems accurate. Following are my observations/recommendations after having stripped our deck of all paint. Finally! 1. The type of grinder required is a 4/-12”, 5/8-inch 11 spindled thread grinder such as the DEWALT Angle Grinder, One-Touch Guard, 4-1/2 -Inch (DWE4011) 2. Mount the disk to the grinder, tighten by hand with wrench (not too much force), and run the grinder to check for any wobbling (reported by some); return the product if there’s any appreciable wobble, as this will gouge out your workpiece. 3. Hold the grinder with two hands at all times. It will tend to jump and/or wander so you’ll want to keep tight control of it always. 4. Counter sync all nail heads in your work area; any appreciable wear to the blades occurs from hitting these. If you notice any sparks, stop, and counter sync the offending nail prior to continuing. 5. Try out the tool in an inconspicuous portion of your project. This will allow you to get a feel for the tool prior to going for it, allowing you to possibly make some mistake(s). 6. Keep the disk flat against the surface to start and constantly move the tool while working, generally in the direction of the wood grain. Continue this orientation to minimize the wear to your blades. You’ll find that going side to side, or feathering the toe of the grinder down, or tilting the heal down, while in motion will remove the most stubborn portions of paint, but can also risk gouging the wood if not flat against the surface. 7. If you do gouge the wood, reorient the grinder blade to be flat and sculpt around the gouge to provide relief to the surrounding area, resulting in it being less noticeable. 8. Apply the final pass to the wood in the direction of the grain to remove any appearance of swirling from the blades, usually introduced from going side to side against the grain. You’ll notice if you remove all paint along with any oxidation of the wood, it will look brand new. 9. Wear a high quality dust mask, gloves, eye and hearing protection. Goggles work best for eye protection, as opposed to safety glasses, as there will be micro bits of dust, paint and wood flying. Good luck!

I have a 16' X 14' deck and after 10 years of adding 2 new layers of deck paint every spring, it all had to come off. I was getting bubbles and lots of peeling. I rented a pad sander from one of the big box store, and after TWO DAYS of sanding, there was still tons of paint that just wouldn't come off... Concave boards, convex boards - if the surface was not perfectly flat, the sander couldn't do anything with it... Watched a few videos on youtube about the Diamabrush, and at first I said "there is no way that thing works that good..." I was wrong. This tool makes short work of ANY paint on a deck, and it lasts a very long time. My only recommendation is - buy a dust mask for when you are using it, because it works so well it makes a huge dusty mess when it's doing its thing. Yes, it seems a little expensive for a tiny little sanding disc, but the money you save in doing this work yourself makes it all worth it. I could not be happier with the results.

Works as advertised. Wish it was less expensive

I give 5 stars because it does what it is advertised to do. My brother used this on his deck to remove at least 3 layers of paint and bring the deck back to natural wood. For him, it made the job quick and easy and lasted double the advertised square footage. I have a new deck. It had finished out-gassing last year but due to other issues I am finally able to finish it now. My boards only have the white dust, mildew, dirt on them. 50 grit resin disk takes mine to white wood and with little effort I can get out the lines from the manufacturing planer. For what I'm doing, this is far too aggressive and doesn't save any time. I will say, it is quick and handy to run at the seams of the boards to level them off. My deck would be good with a high power pressure wash, I'm going WAY beyond that! I'm not at all disappointed that I bought it. My deck skirting is in rough cut, hardwood. I only managed to get one coat on it when I put it up. The one coat wasn't enough to completely seal it so I will have to go back and sand. The finish I put on will quickly gum up resin disks so I will use this there. I wish I had had this when working on other projects. It will put a hand plainer to shame especially if you need aggressive planing. If used on a level surface, it will out perform aggressive carving tools that I have for grinders. Will this leave marks? Yes. That really isn't an issue. Unless you are sitting on a deck and looking for marks you won't see them and while I'm doing my deck, full finish, I also have to add grit to the walkway and stairs. A little rougher deck is not a bad idea. Highly recommended. Buy a cheap dust guide/cover. If you are peeling off paint, you definitely want one but it will also work as a guide and assist in keeping it level so you don't end up gouging wood. People tend to tilt grinders, rather than using them flush. This attributes to many peoples gouging of wood. A full shroud will prevent much of that without inhibiting use. I read a couple of reviews discussing chattering and attributing it to fit. As a woodworker/carver I have at least a half dozen grinders that all sport different heads, none have guards or handles. I initially experienced the chatter, it occurred because I wasn't using a handle and was bouncing. If someone is weaker, using a higher amp grinder, no handle, lack of experience, it will bounce and chatter. This is an aggressive head, it requires you have control. IF you have control, it will rip off paint like there is no tomorrow!

If you want to remove weathered, cracked and peeling paint that is difficult to scrape off fast, this is the tool for you. You need to be prepared to wear safety protection and have a steady hand when utilizing this tool. You have to gauge the pressure that you apply on the grinder so you don’t over gouge the wood when removing the paint. But overall, it is a remarkable tool to get the job done fast. It beats having to replace lap board on the side of your house. It’s also extremely helpful to make sure that all nails are preset into the wood before starting your project.

Very effective at getting the paint off. We had about 3 years worth of layers before we got back to the wood. The finish was excellent and would have taken 10x longer using a sander. Just be very careful with the blade, even after the powers cut and its f4ee wheeling, would still take a big chunk out of you!

I am using this to get the paint off of 100+ year old cedar shingles. I know it is not recommended for this as the irregular surface of shingles can/will get gouged, but I will happily deal with some gouges in exchange for my summer. l tried 40grit discs on a random orbit sander, and quit that after 1 shingle. Heat gun is too slow and a potential fire hazard, A torch is out of the question and still too slow. I spent way too much of last summer on a ladder with hand scrapers, which work well but are slow, even when you take a half dozen scrapers at a time up the ladder and sharpen them all at once with a bench grinder brought outside. This tool is like discovering the chainsaw after using a hand saw to fell trees. It is noisy, unpleasant and particles of paint and wood go everywhere at high speed, but it is about ten times faster, and that is awesome. I used a vacuum & shield, but even with that you want gloves, long sleeves, thicker pants and a full face respirator. I hate all that ppe, but it is still 100% worth it to remove old paint AND the degraded wood below it this fast. It is like having a miniature berserk Valkyrie at the end of your angle grinder, so be careful, and reclaim your summer from prep work hell.

Used on my decking and took years of decking paint, stain and varnish off in seconds

Holy cow does this blade ever pack a punch!! After years of dealing with a dark stained wood that kept peeling and needing to be sanded and re-stained every couple years, I finally bit the bullet and decided to sand it all off and go with a natural colour finish that wouldn’t show wear as much. With this tool, not only did it easily get rid of all the stain, it made the boards look brand new! After doing the whole deck, the blade still feels like it has lots of life left. For the countless hours this blade saved me rather than using a regular sander, it was worth every penny! The finish does end up slightly rough, so I did quickly go over it all with a finer grit sander just to give it a bit of a nicer finish. Super happy with my purchase!

Did my cedar wood siding paint and was pretty fast + + + it is really easy to sand after compare to other attachments - - won't buy again, Home depot sell it for 50$! - - be carefull with it, I lost a diamond after 5min. No one was hurt.