CB works

No, I wouldn't do that. Dealing with formula changes without knowing.

Other....applying a mystery product.

I don't think you can pad enough of the excess off, Maybe you can but I haven't figured out how. I go through about 15 lbs of wiping rags on 2000 square feet of decking to get a nice flat look.

Thanks Beth! This was Wood Tux BS. Here are a couple more from the same job. I might have posted these already. I just finished the first maintenance coat on this one, it went well.

Yes, you will see it as a darker area. Here is a pic of a deck that I sanded a reference line into (stupid), and when it was stained you could see it. It's kind of hard to see so I circled it. I also just did the maintenance coat on this one and the stain was mostly gone from that line. It was grayer than the rest. So be careful when blending because any over sanding you do, on top of what you already did, isn't going to weather the same. The good thing is that you can't see it after the second application.

David, You know what I think about your work. Is that you're golf cart in you're avatar??

Has anyone else been experiencing these spots. One week after I started this job these spots showed up. it's now been 1 1/2 months since the job was complete and the spots haven't gotten any worse. These spots are not over the entire job, only over where the boards come to the end of the deck, where there are a few 2x4s that the ipe boards cross. I had two other decks that did this that I completed over 6 months ago that are now covered with mildew. The thing with the decks that are covered in mildew is tthat hey had system under the boards to catch the water and divert it tio the edge to drain. I'm thinking that they hold a lot of moisture and that is where it's coming from. I'm going to go and see what I can do with them as soon as I slow down a bit (soon). The process on the deck was: 8 oz per gal F-18, let completely dry 8 ox per gal OX sand with 60 grit stain. Should I be bleaching ipe after a process like that?

I thought you were talking about treating the wood with a mildewcide directly after stripping, neutralizing and sanding. Can a stain penetrate the wood as good with a treatment like that?

Rod, It could be because there are many trees that surround this house but check this out: The first set of pictures are before and afters of a PT deck I did the week before I did the ipe. Day 1 clean Day 2 neutralize Days 3, 4, and 5 dried to get the right moisture, and still wasn't quite where it needed to be. Day 6 stain The second set of pics are of the proximity of the ipe deck. Day 1 clean, Day 2 neutralize Day 3 sand with 60 grit with hard pad, like I would a surf board. Day 4 stain It seems like that if I was going to have any problems, it would be on the PT deck. The deck has Live Oaks right above the black and green corner, with damn squirrels dropping their discarded acorns all over the deck while drying. The after shot of the PT was 6 weeks after the job was complete and I don't see any problems. I checked the ipe yesterday which is now into the fifth week. The dots haven't got any worse since I left, when I first noticed the problem. I've rubbed the dots with 12% and they don't disappear, I don't think it's penetrating the WT. The major difference between the two decks is that I had to bleach the heck out of the PT to get it to look right. Next time I'm going to treat the wood with 2% after I strip and see what happens. Is there a mildewcide can go under WTW? Carl, I think I answered your question Have you looked at your RS WTW ipe lately?

I hope there's no oxidation:( If so you'll have to watch for nice bright areas where you end up cleaning. If that's the case you might have to get all the oxidation off from the affected areas. I had to do it because of a gutter job I did once, it went pretty fast with F13 though :)

Thanks, Is that with basic prep? Strip, neutralize, defur? Are you doing a full strip every time you maintain or are you able to do a percarb wash and reapply, and does it look as good as the first application? All the ipe I have done so far (except for one Flood's Supreme performance Pro) has been with WTW. Isn't that the same formulation as your Woodzotic? If not, I'd like to give it a try. PM me if you'd like.

Ken, When you're saying 18 months, Is that a finish that you would expect a customer to be satisfied with for that amount of time? From your description it sounds like it would need some attention before 18 months. How long are you getting a finish to last on a deck, that's fully exposed, that they're happy with? and how do the maintenance coats look when you go back to maintain them. The reason I'm asking is because I think I may have over promised on the 3500 square foot job I just finished and I'm expecting to be back to keep things looking good for what I did promise. The one thing I have going for me on this deck is that it is covered and only partially exposed out toward the edges. Check out the pic and tell me what you think. Now if it can only resist the mold. Jim, What kind of mold are you experiencing? I have had little black dots showing up before two weeks is up, and I'm concerned with what is going to happen in two months (classic formula). Do I need to be bleaching the wood after I strip, neutralize, and sand? One deck I finished a little over 4 months ago. It's not grey, but it's dark with mold spores on it. It started with the black dots under the stain and now that the stain has broken down a bit the appearance of the wood is dark and if I rub my hand on it I am getting a black soot on them.

Is that bleached passed the original color, Or did it come that bright? Just wondering if the customer could complain about the light color. I doubt they would complain after that kind of improvement.

I'm trying to use the search for water stains and ipe but when I do an ipe search it is saying: The search term you specified (ipe) is under the minimum word length (4) and therefore will not be found. Please make this term longer. Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks

Jon, You think that's why my edumacation is a bit lacking?? I went to BE elementary from 1st through 6th. Behind the Holiday Inn? I used to catch large trout with my hands in a stream that ran through a pasture just past the Holiday Inn. Man, does that sound country! But that's what it is. I grew up on Sugar Mt.. My Dad was the ski school director and my Mom was an instructor. Needless to say I skied all the time. I always love going and visiting home!! Mike, I'm 33, I know the world can't be this small. I knew a Mike Cooke while going to BE Elementary. If I remember right, he moved to MB and that would be crazy if that was you. If so we should hook up and talk story. .

Jon, Yeah, Carl's my Bro. He's a lurker here.... Well, he's made a post or two, but they got deleted, can you imagine that? lol! I once told him that you mentioned that you were from Banner Elk and he wondered if you were the Jon Chapman he remembered from high school. Man, what a small world. He's still up in the hills and doing well. I'm always trying to figure a way to move back but the wife and kids are addicted to the beach. Guess Ill have to settle on trying to buy a piece of the mountains as soon as I can afford it. I here ya on the rich folks not wanting to spend the $$. Especially when they were told that ipe is maintenance free. I'm working on a 3500 square foot one now, and imagine there faces when I told them the truth about it, how much it would cost to restore, and how much it would cost to maintain the look they thought they would always have. Sometimes I feel sorry for those folks. They are always getting jerked around by someone trying to take a piece of the pie. Then I come in, and they think I'm the one trying to take advantage. Personally I think $2 a square is sometimes too low.

LOL Jeff you crack me up! Next time I know who to call when I need some help. I find those little green spots often under palm trees. The sad thing about that dock is that I'm willing to bet that the home owner was told that Ipe is a mantience free wood. Yeah, It will be there for a long time without doing anything to it but it sure will look like crap, and that thing looks like it's slipperier than snot when it's wet.

Beth, If I do a search on ipe deck it still dosn't work, but if I put it in quotations then I get some results.

LOL, I can't say I didn't take on a painting job this summer. It was for my customer that gave me his 2500 sq ft ipe deck to take care of. I did it only because I was being a nice guy. Sometimes I hate being a nice guy!! Especially after having to rent scaffolding, set it up, and taking it down, and not to mention painting.:lgbonk:

You might not can strip it, but you ain't gona run from it. I would have been long gone. Guess that's why you're The Wood Saver of Texas. You da man!!

I hope they hire me!!!

One thing I keep hearing is that the Mars is going through the same warming trend at the same rate as planet Earth, and what is causing this is the warming of the sun. I don't know if it's true because I haven't checked the facts. If it is, I still think it's important for all of us to do our part in keeping things as clean as possible...just incase.

Jim, There were three decks I did with the "bad batch". The first was a 12,000 sq ft job I did with my brother in the early spring up in the mountains where it was a little cooler. A quarter of the way through the job we were advised to add jap dry to help in the curing process. The other Two jobs were done a little further down south in late spring. I was told that the "new formula" was designed to be applied in hot weather, so I didn't add any jap dry to those two jobs being that it was hot (one ipe, one pt pine). Within three months all three jobs were looking like they needed to be done again, sooner for the ipe. The only job that has been redone was the late spring pt pine (6,000 sq ft). The others are scheduled for late Fall. The ipe is starting to get black mold growing on half the boards, and the 12,000 square foot job looks like sh!+. I wish I could have don't the restains sooner but we can't due to logistics. The one restain I did was really simple. I used a light bleach and soap mix to kill any mold that might have started growing on the sticky wood, let it dwell, then lightly rinsed. The next day I stained. The wood only took about a quarter of the stain initially used. It's been three months since I restained that deck and it still looks like the day I redid it. Not looking forward to the other two. What has been your experience? Christian

I was working on an ipe deck this spring and had a rag start smoking on me. After that I started spreading the rags out to dry when they got too soaked. Now all I do is fill a bucket up half way with water, add a little sodium hydroxide and toss the rags in when I can't use them anymore. At the end of the job I poor the water out, dry the rags and get rid of them. Works for me!!