RPetry

Tony, Do not beat your head against a wall. Daniel has proven himself over many years as a misanthrope. My best advice is to just ignore him.

Stephen, Much of what is being sold as "mahogany" is not true red mahogany, but known in general as "Philippine mahogany". These woods are, if I recall correctly, usually in the Shorea family. Often also call Meranti. We've worked on some of this wood in the past, and yes, it can extrude sap, especially on the cut ends. Not sure how long it takes to fully leave the wood. More info can be found in this thread: http://www.thegrimescene.com/forums/wood-cleaning-restoration-decks-fences-etc/6739-exotic-woods.html

Daniel, I do not think that will work very well with a video at 24 FPS, with each frame taken once each day. Good luck.

Daniel, To each, his own. Don't expect too many views on YouTube. I'm far from a photographer but I would guess that rain, snow, and sun/cloud/seasonal lighting would be a problem. Might be possible if you took more than 1 a day and adjusted the schedule of shoots dependent on sun angle / sky brightness for the changing seasons. In any event, I'd imagine you would be in for a lot of editing to produce something reasonably viewable. But give it a try, could be a waste of effort or possibly interesting.

Daniel, I know of no one who would want to look at a test board weathering daily. Think I'd trade it for water boarding. How about every three months or so?

Daniel, You are using the wrong oils.

Hmmm, Many of us were younger, and full of **** and vinegar. Many of us were building a business, and looking for help. Many of us got set in our ways, and found success in the long term in what we do. No surprise, but where is the new generation of woodies?

Adrian, You're not kidding, those pictures on the lake are a ton of wood. Nice work. Give my regards to Shane when you talk to him, the Pergola King and a charter member of the BDA. We started mid - March this year with wood, the earliest in 12 yrs. Never had to re antifreeze the pumps, it has been that mild. Have only lost a handful of days due to dew/rain since that time, it has been a stellar Spring. Best early start to the season ever. Suppose to get down to freezing tomorrow night, so it's a late start on Monday morning. Just as well, the help and I are overdue to take a break. I'm tired, and it's only April! It's a great wood season so far.

DJ, Agree with that. A pergola is not the best choice for learning how to accurately and neatly spray stain!

DJ, Do a search here on TGS on a user name, if I recall correctly, "Shane". Was/is affiliated with WoodSavers in Texas. Shane and crew did a ton of pergolas and posted numerous pictures of jobs. In short, they prepped with a lot of plastic sheeting, then used an HVLP sprayer to apply stain. Gotta' admit, their prep and process was superb and probably saved a lot of labor. We've done a share, and spray as much as possible. Still takes time, prep, and effort, and you need a calm, no wind day.

Keenan and Dave, As far as I know, Oxiclean is straight sodium percarbonate. If that is what you want, you can purchase in bulk from the Chemistry Store or local suppliers. Again, as far as I know, Pressure Tek's F-10, ACR's percarb, Sunbright's restore(?) or other distributors for wood products offer surfactants and/or other ingredients that are applicable to cleaning wood. Just mix with warm or even hot water, and apply directly with a pump. The mix does off gas a lot, just use within a 4 hr. period or so. Otherwise the mix will lose cleaning effectiveness.

We only work wood. It's not as demanding as flatwork or truck washing but still, we do clean and strip a fair sq. footage of dead trees per season. Today, my Hydrotech pressure washer broke down in the middle of a job. Not being of mechanical skill, into the truck it went and over to ACR Products for repair. After 9 years of use, the unloader was toast. After replacement and diagnostics, the unit is as good as new. Thank you Tom, Barbara (my sweet wood minx), and crew. Aside from annual oil/fuel filter, pump and engine oil changes, this Hydrotech has never failed to start and do its job. For nine straight years. The AR pump has never been touched, aside from a preventitive belt replacement a few years ago. Moral of the story. Buy the best equipment you can realistically afford. It pays substantial dividends.

Brian, Try keeping the HD-80 misted with water from a pressure washer. Not flooded, but misted, just enough to keep the surface wet. A cloudy, calm wind day is your friend.

Chazz, 6 to 8 oz./gal. of percarb on the wood, dependent on how much dirt, mold, mildew is present. I don't think you can get that concentration aside from a direct pump. There is a great use for sodium percarbonate wood cleaners. It's called bare, unstained wood.

DJ, When you say "staggered", I would assume you mean a "shadowbox" design. If so and you are spraying, which is the only way to stain a fence, the answer is NO. Especially lattice, not doable unless you want to spend a week being a frustrated paint by numbers artist. Fences can be a tough sell. Learned years ago to just walk if the customer does not want to prep and clean both sides. They are trying to save a buck without any concern for their neighbors.

The more ipe' we do, the more I am convinced that letting the wood naturally age and weather is the best course, prior to applying a finish that will last for any appreciable time. Case in point. On the way home yesterday, stopped by to look at a small ipe' job we stained 9 months ago. As can be seen in the last two pictures, this ipe' was moldy, dirty, and very weathered to the point of surface degradation. The owner stated that the wood had not been cleaned or stained in at least 5 years. At the 9 month mark, this ipe' looks terrific. The stain pigment has held up remarkably well. The wood is near perfect. The stain used was Ready Seal medium red, two light applications on the floor and a single application on all vertical wood.

An update prior to the start of wood season. Applied A-C mahogany stain to my own ipe' late April of last year, so it is coming up on 11 months of time. Attached are 2 pics taken today, don't let the angle of the stairs make you dizzy. This stain has held up very well on ipe'. Sure there are some high use areas that are getting thin, but no greying out. We also tend to slide our chairs, chaise, planter (gate guard for the dogs) etc. so scratches are prevalent. There is no stain that prevents scratching of ipe'. This deck gets a lot of sun, and is a daily playpen for our 2 dogs. The steps get used at least twice a day to walk them and we use the grill all year. Disregard the spindles, they are old PT pine. I'm impressed. Think I'll do a light clean with bleach/soap this spring and re coat with the same A-C mahogany.

Celeste, Hah, so true! Thanks, great pic, just went into my "fun" directory. Wife Judy will appreciate it! Just hope I have a few more years before stage four.

Chris, Come to the ACR roundtable in Easton, Pa. on Saturday, March 10th. There will be a lot of wood contractors there, as well as chemical and stain manufacturers. If that does not work, there is a large gathering in Albany, NY on March 31st through April 1st. Again, a lot of contractors and manufacturers.

Scott, That would work quite well on the aircraft carrier prominently displayed on the home page.

With the added bonus that it only costs $88 per gallon. The color selection is very attractive too.

Scott, Try Murphy Brothers Paint Co. in Houston for Ready Seal stain.

+1. Yup. A wood restoration business is built on repeat business, not a one time shine.

Daniel, A mineral oil for wood conditioning covered by a rock hard top resin might be terrific the first time applied. Relative ease and cost effective maintenance might be a deal breaker.