Decking help required

[Sportbilly]

I am a bloke who openly admits to being useless at DIY, and whilst furloughed would like to repaint our wooden decking.

We bought a house a year back and the decking has been painted but it is very patchy (mix of wood where the paint has eroded away).

I want to simply(!) Remove the old paint, prep it and repaint it.

I have tried using chemicals to remove it and this was having not much of a desired effect, and am now trying a heat gun and scraper...which again seems incredibly slow (if working).

Assume it is necessary to remove the old paint before recoating?

What are the best and quickest methods of getting rid of the old paint please?

I am sure far more experienced mums (or dads) can point me in the right direction here.

TBH the best thing you can do with decking in the UK climate is remove it. I would say use it for firewood but not as it has been painted.

vermin trap beneath and always slippery on top. Get rid of it (when the tip reopens) and use your time for something more constructive.

Firstly, men are not built with some gene that means they are good at DIY, case and point, my Dad. My Mum was the one who taught me to wallpaper, wire a plug etc. Since then, YouTube and lucikly a stepping stone house allowed me and Dh to test our skills, the only thing we won't touch is plastering, although I am very good at patching holes, painting, tiling, plumbing in entire bathrooms gotta love speedfit plumbing!

Are the planks flat or grooved? Do you have access to a power washer yourself or from a friend/neighbour? They are good for removing paint/varnish from decking boards, you just have to be careful about raising the grain. If you do you just sand it back down.

Access to chemical strippers might be difficult at present but if you do go down that route, work on a small area. Figure out the best technique and only then do you go big. Is YouTube any help to you at all?

Can you unscrew the boards and flip them over? That might work too as long as there are no angle cuts, just regular straight boards.

I'd probably just be inclined to power wash it then get a varnish close to the colour it already is and go over it with that. Has worked for us.