My last three strippers had white pine decks. Great wood for stripping. When I was done with sanding the decks, I could carry it on my finger tips. How much lighter do you want to go. My latest one (in progress ) has a redwood deck. I won't do that again. Redwood is great for accents but britle and nicer looking dry than wet. I like pine as a strip wood and feel for some reason it gets a bad rap - probably because it's so readily available.