CB works

Here is a picture of two restaurant doors I have been asked to bid on to refinish. I am still very new to the wood restoration business but am dying to work on more wood. I'm so new that I'm not really sure that these doors are in fact mahogany. Being that this would be my first exterior door refinishing job, do you guys think that this is a task a newbie should be taking on? Thanks, Christian

I have done around 10 to 12 ipe decks and out of those 10 or 12 decks 2 might have been perfect with no warped boards. The problem with these large sanders is that if there are any cupped boards you can't get down to the bottom of the "cup". I use either an orbital sander for the smaller decks (under 500 sq ft) or a variable speed grinder, with a pad I use for sanding surf boards that is very flexible for the larger decks. If you use drum sanders, and you have cupped boards, do you have to sand the edges of the boards to get down to the middle of them?

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I haven't tried any of the box store products yet. I like to use oxalic at .50 per gal. for irrigation rust, But I don't think Deltadart can find any. So if $11 is the best price out there go get it. I also heard that Super Iron Out is the best to remove rust from metal.

Len, Do the boards run from the house out to the edge of the deck? Or do they run parallel to the house? I talked to an importer of Iron Wood (brand) and he swore that the only thing you could put on ipe without degrading it (chemically) was ATO. I thought for sure he was getting kick backs.

Is it a light rust color from irrigation water? If so try CLR or Rid O Rust (or what ever it's called)

I'm not sure if you can. I have gone as far as 5oz per gal and it still faded it. Also, you won't notice the fading until the stucco is completely dry. I had to blend the fade with more applications with shorter and shorter dwell times, so the eye couldn't catch it. I have one coming up and the company that was responsible for removing the rust before me has just about faded a nice, light gray color to almost white. Other colors that I have seen fading with OX: green, pink, yellow and khaki. The best thing to do is test, explain to the HO what to expect, and if they still want it done, charge good because each time you see how much blending you need to do, you have to wait till the stucco is completely dry, and that can take a very long time in the shade.

I'd be carefully with ox and stucco. You can fade some colors easily, also depends on the coloring process of the stucco.

I wanted to see if any of you guys or gals could id the stain on this wood. I don't know what it is, but I test striped it with 6 oz and 8 oz per gal and I still have a little pigment in the wood on both strips. Any ideas?

Thanks Mike, Tell you the truth Ships been great so far. He hasn't asked me once to come off my price. He just cussed a little when I told him the price, then asked me to send him the paper work.

Yeah, it comes off relatively easy where the sun hits the wood, but it's a little tougher where the stain is protected and intact.

James, IT WASN'T ME!! It's hard to tell from the pics how deep the wand marks really are. The marks are mostly from someone trying to clean the siding and they washed off the failed stain. It seems that they were using low pressure because there aren't to many gouges (there are a few though). You should see the deck! They used high pressure and a surface cleaner:lgbugeyes I'm pretty sure that the company who washed the building and the company who maintained the wood are two different companies. The wood wouldn't be in as good shape if the washers were the ones who maintained the wood. Rod, I tried to look up the man who used to maintain the wood. It seems he's out of business. As far as I can tell guy didn't charge enough and he's now out of business. I am coming in at double what his price was. I know because the owner is freaking out over the price. The last time it was done was three years ago. The last picture there shows the where the wood was more protected behind the bushes and is in better shape. That picture also shows where I cleaned the section of the hand rail for testing.

Thanks Greg, I know of quite a few cypress sided houses that are around here that were done with TWP. Is that a stain available to box stores or is it mostly coming from a paint stores? Most of the wood that was that vibrant was behind the bush line and well protected. Anything that got any sun was black.

I sure do love self employment!! I bet your customers no problem with it either. Like Jeff says, I love this business.

They are definitely from someone trying to clean it. I have been asked to fix this mess. I have done the testing and know what will work. I am just trying to broaden my knowledge of failed stain id. Rod, what kind of info do you need? I have lots more pics if it will help

This pic is part of a 3500 square foot wrap around deck, and I sanded every square inch in two days. Sanding 600 square feet with the right tools will be cake. If it were mine I would strip it, neutralize it, sand it, and stain it with Wood Tux.

Thanks for the...tip So if you erased all the AF off of someone's entrance area of their house, and it took you three hours, you would only charge them $60? Wouldn't that also remove the oxidation off of the siding and you would see all the erase marks? How long would it take to erase 100 square feet of AF that is as bad as this pic.

Price just went up here .30 to 2.28

I wonder if that is an area specific product for Wal-Mart. I can't imagine them carrying 12% for pools in Minnesota or somewhere like that. Then again, when I lived in Hawaii I remember them selling snow shovels in December.

Amen, Screw the knee thing!! The maintenance coats seem to go on much better with very little extra stain. When I do the first coat on a freshly sanded deck I have so much stain that comes back out with wiping, it seems no way around getting down there and wiping it all up to get a nice flat look. I'm going to try the pad trick on the one I have lined up next month. Do you guys think you could spray a fine enough coat with a Decker or do you need an airless? I've been brushing everything so far. Christian

Cool, So say you were doing 2000 sq ft, would one pad be enough, or would it be full by the time you were done?

Beth, Do you guys apply with one pad, and whipe with another?

That's the way I do it.

Is there anyone using a back pad to finish ipe?

Jim, What would you poot on it?