jimbo970

Hi Everyone, I purchased a home that has an ipe deck, the deck is approx 10 years old with built in benches all around. I prev had a huge tree over the deck and when the tree came out the deck really looked awful with dark mold spots dark splotch grey color etc but is releatively in good condition. I recently cleaned the deck using oxalic wash and power washer and now the wood is very blond and most looks very nice and clean but some of the benches are stil blotchy - I am working on these. My question is that you can start to see that the benches are forming fine lines and cracks and some of the floor boards are beginning that directions so I am sure I will need to put something on it to keep it from destroying the deck. I was told to use ATO from cabots and am wondering if I do this what others experience has been. I live in pennsylvania. I also am concerned that with the extensive power wasking I have done over the last 2 weeks that I have run the natural oils out of the wood and that it will certainly crack.

Hey, I also have an IPE deck and it looked alot like your pic. I posted the other day as I started to stain the deck and wasnt sure how well it was going to look - I had never had a stain on the deck and it is 10 yrs old. I used Cabots ATO and the first coat went on well and really sunk intot he wood - when it dried the boards looked faded but mostly uniform - I applied a second coat a day 1\2 later and so far the deck looks like a fine mahogany floor - hoping it will keep that look - the stain goes on very easy and coats nice. I used mahongany flame and it gives a very rich brown color to the wood so far so good. I am concerned about having to do this yearly so I hope it lasts a while - hope this helps

Well all the stain has not wiped off. The deck still has a dark color but there is certain boards which appear orangy in the sun. I lightly sanded one board and wiped it off and it looked ok - most important question is can I re apply in a few days after a light hand sanding or is that a mistake?

I stained yesterday with ATO and it looked awsome until this morning. Overnight the dew settled on the deck and you can wipe off most of the stain with a rag!!! It wnr on light and there were no puddles or glossy area last night before I finished up. How can you avoid the dew scenario from over night drying? I started staining about 2 pm and finished at about 8pm. I am hoping once the sun gets fired up today it will dry it off good and I will wipe down with a towel. Any advice here or just let it go for the year? Can I wait a few days and lightly sand the boards that dont looks so good and re apply? or can I iuse a different oil stain to do this?

Everywhere I looked, pros say not to sand ipe as it will close the pores. who is right - btw I have a cleaned ipe deck and am thinking of putting ATO on it - heard mixed results from others so will it be worth it to seal it with timber oil or should I just leave it alone and let it turn grey - I would prefer the rick oiled color and protection. Any advice is appreciated

I am reading the complaint about the cabots - could you just add mineral spirits to the can to get the ATO to the consitantcy it once was? curious I dont know but am planning to do an ipe deck with this stuff in 2 weeks and I live in PA with the voc regs