RPetry

This year's ipe' test is A-C's mahogany oil stain. The previous year's Defy was stripped, oxalic acid applied to brighten, and rinsed. The ipe' was lightly sanded with 60 grit. Two separate light oilings were applied a day apart on the ipe', with one heavy application on the PT. The spindles, gate, and lattice are pressure treated wood. The teak furniture is stained with Ready Seal medium red stain. This is a tough test deck for any ipe' stain. In addition to two dogs, the deck gets a lot of use and full sun for most of the day.

Last year's stain test on ipe' was Defy for Hardwoods, a water based "nano-technology" product reputed to be longer lasting than most stains on hardwoods. Attached are two pictures, taken this spring about 11 months after initial application. IMO, the stain did not outperform quality oil stains. In fact, the wear pattern on the deck is probably a bit worse, with many bare wood areas that have "greyed" out. As can be expected on a film type coating, Defy also scratches worse than oils on ipe'. On the plus side, Defy easily strips off with a medium strength sodium hydroxide stripper.

Reading.

Adrian, Best wishes on a successful surgery and speedy recovery. Never know, you may be playing better guitar before long! I like the video, especially the voice over. Audio is professionally done. One correction. On the website home page, third paragraph, the final sentence reads: "Quit simply, if properly cared for, it will last year after year." Obviously, it should be "Quite simply". Hope to see this new product on a late night infomercial before long!

David, Not sure what wood stains Adrian uses but a mild to strong mix of sodium hydroxide with a bit of water pressure should remove the "brown" stain residue. The rust is a different story!

Adrian, That thing looks like its been through a war. Been pumping some strong chems through that fella? You gotta' get the cart with the black oxide coating, doesn't flake off and the stain doesn't show.

Mike, Only for about 10 times your deck size would I even consider travelling to L.I., it is a nasty, stop and go drive! Defy has held its color on my ipe' about the same as Ready Seal or Armstrong Clark. Aside from the PITA factor in application, it also scratches very easily, much more so than the oils. Not good when you have 2 dogs and a spouse that drags the teak deck furniture. John Tornabene owns Clean County Powerwashing out of Kings Park, NY and does a lot of high end wood restoration on L.I. His website is: http://www.cleancounty.com/ Give him a call in the spring, they do nice work.

Rod, Rob has his sense of age skewed. You're not old, to me you are a young pup! Best wishes on your belated birthday.

I must be getting old.... Never been on Facebook and possibly never will.

Jeff, Deckster's are going to be difficult to locate locally. Sun Brite Supply sells them on line and they ship fast. See Deckster Deck Sprayer and Deckster Accessories - Home

Mark, None of the above. HVLP sprayer. Do a search on "Deckster" or "Decker 5'er". On initial application, use plenty of oil. Maintenance ~ 60% of initial quantity.

Ok, so who gets out in the field and actually works? Wood is an unusual business. In fact, get paid to look good! Tanning is part of the fun. I'll post some pics here, and disregard the comments on the nails!

Examples of Ready Seal medium red stain. Stairs, deck, and gate are ipe', the large storage boxes are made of teak. A good example of different coloration using the same oil stain dependent on the wood species.

Charlie, I have more gold in my mouth than that kick plate. It is probably brass. Either brass cleaner or a cheap replacement from a big box store.

You are officially now Peirce Fitchette's best friend! A custom mix of light brown and gold Ready Seal should be real attractive. Especially on western red cedar. Make sure to post some finished pictures.

John, Aside from mahogany, we have stayed away from the Ready Seal dark browns and reds over the years. Medium pigments have been our choice. But I must say, your results are terrific. Nice work!

One benefit of doing residential wood work is that you meet and work with some interesting customers. Started an ipe'/cedar restoration this week and the homeowner has some neat house guests. ~ 50 different species of parrots, 6 chinchillas, 3 cats, and 2 dogs.

Jim, Good deal. Add a stipulation in the contract that he has to supply you and your crew with a catered lunch!

This is Juan Carlos, my main man, with a new friend. Who says its all work and no play?

Beth, The point and fact is that virtually all paint/stain manufacturers, as well as our "independent" gov't research lab, as far as I can remember, tests coating products to weathering and UV at an angle to the sun. There is a reason for this. Common knowlege at this time points to UV light as the primary factor in coating failure on exterior surfaces, which obviously includes wood. It is not rocket science. Different angles apply in the Northern Hemisphere dependent on latitude, but maximum sunlight exposure is angled and pointed South.

Diamond Jim makes some very astute points. If I read his post correctly, ipe' stain longevity is due to numerous factors, much of which has to do with the history and age of the ipe'. I could not agree more. Testing various stains on ipe' is another ball of wax. In my own way, I have tried to do this over the years on my own ipe' deck with, to put it mildly, inconclusive results. A while ago, posted in another thread, I applied 6 different, "premier" wood stains to my ipe'. After a year, the results were conclusive. Defy Stain for Hardwoods was the clear winner for pigment color retention. By far. This spring we stripped off the old finish and applied the Defy. Guess what. After 4 months the Defy looks blotchy, has lost much if not most of its pigment, and overall looks like a butcher job from a handyman. In short, it looks terrible. To the point where my wife is complaining. Yes, our ipe' gets a ton of sun. Yeah, we're in the NorthEast that gets snow, usually a lot of rain, a whole lot of sun, and warm/cool variations. It's a tough environment for any stain. With my better half permission, we'll strip and put down some A-C mahogany on the ipe' next spring on both the horizontal and vertical ipe'. The full deck. If she will let me. Keeps on insisting that RS medium red looked the best and lasted the longest. Gotta' love the woman, I know that Peirce does! As far as testing, it is a tough process. Not only does the climate and location have a large part in initial results, but wood age and preparation are also critical to comparisons. Someone emailed me an interesting fact. Solar panels are typically angled at a +/- 40 degree angle at southern exposure to collect the maximum amount of sunlight. AFAIK, the Forest Products Laboratory as well as the major paint and stain manufacturers also use this method to test their products.

About 80% of our customers like Ready Seal medium red on their wood. IMO, the best color on pressure treated, mahogany, and ipe'. Light brown is my personal favorite on cedar.

There is the catch. Mark Smith stated that he "cleaned" this ipe' board with a very light caustic and acid. It is a new, unexposed piece of ipe' directly from the mill. Enough said. Unless you beat the bejesus out of the wood with strong caustics and acids, there is still going to be a boatload of natural oils and resins in the ipe' surface to resist and lengthen any UV or "greying". It's a natural fact of the wood. This is why we stress to our ipe' customers to allow the wood to weather at least one, and better yet two years prior to applying any finish. We closed on a large ipe' job on Monday. It's 7 yrs. old, never been stained, and that is just primo wood. Enough of the extractives in the the ipe' have weathered out that we can get a decent amount of oil to penetrate into the substrate. And last more than 6 to 8 months. Gotta' pick a bone with Diamond Jim. It is my observation that UV from sunlight is the primary agent in pigment/coloration degradation of any exterior wood, including ipe'. Here is a picture of a 2 x 4 ipe' board, 6 years old, that has never been exposed to direct sun, snow, rain, nor moon. It has enough natural defences / pigment, to laugh at the sun, rain, snow, and hail for at least a year here in the NE and certainly more than 6 weeks. BTW, the 5/4 x 6 ipe' below the board is 5 month old Defy waterbased for hardwoods. In a nutshell, forgive the expression, but it sucks. Oils do better than this on ipe'. Ipe' is one unusual wood.

Charlie, Absolutely. Although we have never done this with percarbs. we do a maintenance cleaning of ipe' frequently with a bleach/soap mix, lightly scrub with a soft brush on a pole, and rinse off with a hose at faucet pressure. Allow to dry and then stain.

Jon, 10-4. A few yrs. after college, bought a '74 1/2 MGB-GT. Taught me a bit about mechanics, was a PITA at times with suspension, electronics, and carb/ignition. But when that car was on, it was a real hoot and pleasure to drive. Fond memories...