RPetry

Daniel, This 80 yr. old growth barn cedar is not the type of job one "experiments" on. Any serious screw up and your profit is toast. And you don't replace any of this wood at Home Depot.

Adrian, Hah, good one! I think it would be in Tom's best interest to refrain from posting on public internet boards. Daniel, I'm thinking along those same lines. Maybe a very light bleach cleaning, with spigot pressure rinse, not sure but will do some testing when we're up there to restore the ipe' and cedar deck/pergola. I just don't want to destroy the character of that old barn wood.

Ken, OK, tit for tat. We did that WoodZotic ipe' job in the neighborhood a few years ago. Guess he didn't like my attitude, never called for maintenance! Yeah, no pricing on the ipe' and cedar, thats mine! Call me on my cell, will be in Moorestown on another ipe'/cedar job. Hah! I would certainly hope not. Look, the job is all yours, but trust me, I'll talk the customer out of it!

Ken, Hah! It's all yours but I think you will have second thoughts. The job is in Pennington, NJ. Call me if you are serious. The ipe' and cedar (not on the shown house) are mine. As a caveat. we go first! So don't mess up my ipe'!

Beth, Yes it is. I say NO. I'll call Ken and he can do it. Just don't use a stain where the owner spells "fax", instead of "facts". Hah!

Beth, Really, are you sure? This old growth cedar has been hanging off of a Amish barn for 60 to 80 years. The interior of the home is finished and is of like appearance. If this cedar has lasted this long, without care, why not another few decades? I'll agree, most of the wood we deal with today is "young" growth, and needs help from the environment. Even ipe' or true red mahogany, it is not the same old growth of years gone by. But this wood has been on a barn for much longer than you or I have been alive. It looks its age, but that is the history and romance of the wood. If it lasted this long, it will last another few decades. Guess this was kind of a stupid thread, I say let it be.

Scott and Ken, Hah! Great responses. Now we get down to the quick... Admit it, yes you do... Ken, you have been around long enough, and even though a hard nose businessman, still appreciate unique and rare wood. Can't fool this old salt! Scott, Thanks. Enough said. The customer probably paid more than that for the wood, but it does not matter. The right thing does.

Daniel, Yes. The archetypical "New England" look. When the shakes start rotting, they just replace the bad courses. Takes a few years to even out in color, but have seen it many times in the Hampton's, where money is no object. But this is really good, old growth, cedar. I don't want to change it, even for 9 - 10 K. I do not think it is necessary or needed. Sometimes its not the money, its the wood. And letting history take its course.

Daniel, Odd, the semi trans line with A-C is much more pigmented than RS, which also names their stains as a semi. But compared to A-C, is much more in the "toner" class. I'm pretty slow, so have a difficult time figuring this nomenclature out.

Adrian, Thanks! I'm either a fool or a designer! Seriously, this wood, IMO, is just golden. We do not have many structures here in NJ with such great looking and old growth wood. Being that the interior is the same, unadulterated appearance, I just cannot fathom a need for restoring the exterior. This cedar will last another 60 - 80 years without intervention. I think! I cannot improve on this. See pic.

Daniel, To each his own. Its funny, but most of my new customers look to me to suggest stain color selection(s).

Kevin is a little shaky too!

Scott, We were asleep, you posted at nearly 10 PM at night! I'm going to guess either a percarb or bleach/soap cleaning.

Daniel, Two out of the four look terrible, namely the RS medium brown and the A-C cedar semi. I would not care to use either one on my own cedar and would be reticent to apply it to customer's wood.

Beth, The cedar toner looks great, the cedar semi looks terrible! The top left is RS light brown, my personal favorite on WRC. The bottom left is RS medium brown, too "muddy" looking for my taste.

Adrian, Nice find! Have not been on the RS website in many moons. Have to ask Peirce about pre-stained decking, that's something fairly new.

Adrian, AFAIK, Ready Seal has been pre-treating fence wood for quite a few years at the plant in Weatherford. Are they now pre-treating deck wood?

Got to sanding the ipe' this morning. All horizontal wood is ipe', all vertical wood is western red cedar. The Sikkens Cetol stripped out pretty easily. Now, if the customer could only decide on stain colors! This is a very nice property. We will probably be doing the WRC covered patio in a few years when that thick cedar starts to gray. Booked the ipe' for a light maintenance cleaning and stain again in the spring

Ken, You can say that again! We have just dabbled with A-C, but put down two samples yesterday on clear WRC. Top right is A-C cedar toner, the bottom right is A-C cedar semi. Ouch, is that cedar semi orange-yellow!

Lyle, RS natural cedar is a 50/50 mix of light brown and medium red. So it is a shade lighter of brown with a little less reddish tinge.

Ken, Very odd, and I agree. Keep on telling Peirce that the moniker, "medium red" is a misnomer. Much more brown, with just a tint of red. Off the top of my head, I would guess that over the past 7 or 8 yrs. ~ 70% of our jobs have been stained with Ready Seal medium red. Pressure treated, ipe', mahogany, & cedar, it just seems to be the best and most favorite color. Aside from newer cedar. Light brown is the best.

Jon, You must have very picky customers. Don't know squat about log homes, but for decks, even old beat up pressure treated, Ready Seal seems to fit the bill in my area and with my customers. A few before and after pics of a 16 yr. old neglected PT deck. Posted about this one in another thread, 92 yr. old spry and independent woman that just melted my heart. We did the job at not much more than cost, and were happy to help. No it does not look like vibrant new wood. And it isn't. Let me know if you want the two gals. of Ready Seal for your deck.

John, Anchor Seal is the ticket. It does prevent cut end ipe' from "checking", or developing small, thin cracks. Just be real careful in applying, the stuff is darn near permanent and if you get it on the upside "face" of the ipe', stain will not adhere.

The Hardest Button to Button -- White Stripes

Finally got started on this job this morning. Get there, and see my test strip from the estimate. See 1st picture, looks good. Stripped and applied oxalic acid. This Sikken's Cetol is not bad, came out of clear cedar and the ipe' without trouble. Mix per gallon of water was 8 oz. ACR 760 NaOH stripper, 4 oz. of ACR 633-ADD stripper booster additive, and 2 oz. of Tergitol NP-9 surfactant. Worked well. Brightened with oxalic acid at 8 oz./gal. and 1 oz./gal. of Tergitol NP-9. Next week is a light sand and then staining.