Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - Refinishing a wood deck

Well I finally bought my first house and now attempting my first deck project. The deck was stained than painted over with a red paint. It looks like they power washed it since the red looked brutal but only half of the red paint has been removed. I began sanding with my palm sander in one of the corners and while I dont seem to have much trouble getting through the red paint the layer after is stopping me dead in my tracks. I am unclear if I have hit the stain or the water sealer but it is almost like there is a wax coting on the wood. Everytime I try to sand through this layer I have to stop after 10 seconds cause off the (waxy) substance covers the grit on the sandpaper. Hence I am sitting there with a puddy knife trying to scrape this stuff off the sandpaper all day. Am I doing something wrong? Is there any way around this? I am almost at the point of not trying to go through this and just putting a clear finish over it but the wood has almost a grey tint which I am not too happy about. Went to Home Depot and asked them but that was a big waste of time. Any advice would be greatly appreciated... Thanks yall for helping me with my cabinets they turned out great. I will post a picture when I get time.

Zach:

Don't do much with decks, but it sounds as if you're heating some kind of clear sealer that was applied to the deck as a waterproofer. You may find a lot more help by posting this in teh forum (up the street from here) called DECKS.

Zacharooni,

For the combination of crud you have - paint, stain, and maybe some cheap parrafin sealer, you are going to have to strip it with a strong sodium hydroxide (lye) stripper. With the NAOh stripper and a pressure washer it should come off. Follow precautions carefully, for your own protection and your lawn/plants.

fred