We have no experience with screened in porches or decks - we have retired to the south and bought a 20 year old home that has a huge screened in porch off of most of the back of the house that gets full southern exposure - afternoon summer sun is brutal here.

The interior of the deck needs to be cleaned and stained and has been stained in the past. There are some rough areas on the deck - I've read that you should not sand a deck - not sure how to smooth those rought areas out without sanding.

The big problem is the outside of the deck - the previous owners decided to start painting the outside stairs, support columns and even the outside of some of the 1 x 2's that form the lower part of the screened in part of the porch. They used exterior latex paint - blue!

Do we need to sand off the paint and stain? Strip the paint with a chemical stripper? Would you power wash first and see what comes off, then strip or sand and stain?

Would appreciate your help as we are novices when it comes to decks.