I want to strip all the varnish off the decks but am worried about going through the veneer. Any advice on methods/products would be greatly appreciated.
Hi
you are right to be concerned about going through the top veneer on deck ply and care is needed not to over scrape or over sand. I have used Nitromorze (not sure if that spelling is correct and its too cold to go into my garage and check) they do a professional version in a yellow can which is the best one to use and a green can for the less potent one which cures with water. Go for the professional one, wear gloves and clean off after use thoroughly as per the instructions on the tin or your new varnish may be affected.
I have also use a hot air gun with success but again care is needed not to scorch the wood as scorch marks do not come out easily. Either way get a good quality scraper (Skarston or similar) keep it sharp and take care to keep it flat and not dig the corner in, scrape with the grain where possible. Just a bit of care and its not that bad a job usually on decks if its just varnish. Finish by sanding carefully with the grain of the wood and thin the first couple of coats on the new varnish. Happy scrapping
Many thanks Chadders.
Agree with everything Chadders has said. I do like my hot air gun and prefer to Nitromors as easier to clean up afterwards but stripper is useful in those tight corners where there has been a build up varnish and you do not want to keep blasting away with the hot air gun.