Mahogany restoration

[RPetry 564]

This was one of the most satisfying projects this season.

I just don't get it. Previous homeowners had the deck built approx. 4 years ago, with white latex for the spindles and a Benjamin Moore's solid acylid stain. Real attractive color, guess they were trying to match the stucco on the house. Insult to injury, it was "maintained" by a "natural" color Behr's silicone stain.

Problem is, the entire deck was built with red mahogany! An expensive and beautiful wood. Mahogany all over, spindles, deck floor, stairs, fascia, rail system, stair stringers. Even the main joist is clad in mahogany.

Why would someone spend so much $ for premium wood then paint it? This deck could have been built at maybe 60% of the cost with SYP.

New owners knew the floor and steps were mahogany, and wanted it restored. This job came via the Grime Scene, and a referral from Beth & Rod. Thanks.

[RPetry 564]

Knew going in that this would be a stripping nightmare. What was really surprising, the mahogany spindles were primed and then stained with white latex before installation! No doubt about it.

The floor stripped out well with ACR's 760 NaOH and ACR's 760 additive. Applied, gave it about 20 minutes, scrubbed with a stainless steel pool brush, reapplied the mix, and pressure washed. Easy. As the solid acylid/silicone stains were already failing, not a big deal.

The vertical wood was the problem. Latex with an underlying primer is not the easiest finish to remove. After a few tests, EacoChem's Stripper Cream proved effective. Still, it took 2 strippings of the latex enclad spindles to get most of that foul "stain" off. Used the stripper cream for the remainder of the job, including the railings, steps, posts, fascia, and main joist. Neutralized/brightened with citric acid, no rinse.

Every inch of wood except the main joists and posts were then lightly sanded with 60 grit.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

WOW...I'm on pins and needles waiting for you to post the sealed up shots!

Beth

[RPetry 564]

Once the wood was prepped, stained with Ready Seal medium red color. As is our normal procedure for first time jobs, 2 separate applications on the horizontal wood, and a single heavy application on the vertical wood.

The deck now looks like mahogany. Not a painted nightmare. And it will be much easier and less costly to maintain for many years to come.

With good wood, it is worth the cost and effort to restore.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Sweet job Rick! As usual, great work!

Beth

[RPetry 564]

Thanks Beth. This one was a lot of work but worth it.

[Paul Kassander 26]

Very nice work the home owners must be very happy with that. I know I would be.

[fireandrain 39]

Rick,

Fine work, as always! That really looks like a gratifying project and I hope the homeowners compensated you well. Curious how much RS you went through?

[fireandrain 39]

Rick, also curious how you dealt with masking the bottom vegetation whilst you creamed' those verticals? Man, that just looks like it would be a rough operation!

[RPetry 564]

Matt,

13 gals. of Ready Seal. Although a hardwood, mahogany will take a lot of stain if it has been exposed to the elements for a few years. EacoChem's stripper cream is very viscous, almost a pudding consistency, and is applied by hand. That is, unless you have a monster airless.

No masking, we never mask anyway. Closest we come is tarps over the balustrade when staining.

[fireandrain 39]

Rick,

...and then just scraped off that creamed paint from he spindles? Did you need to manage that nasty stuff's inclination to drip down to vegetation beneath? Helluva' job Rick! Thats interesting about Mahagony's thirst for stain v. other hardwood species. I received a call back last week on a Mahogony that I sealed with RS Med Red. 2 heavy coats by hand, horiz. only. HO claims that there is an area that appears "bone dry". Very strange, I've never received such a call before~even with redwood.

[RPetry 564]

Matt,

No, the stripper cream is pressure washed off the wood like most other strippers. In one area, the spindles underneath the deck going down the stairs, the stripper cream did not work. If you look at one of the stair pictures, on the left you can see that the spindles are protected from rain. Due to the orientation of the deck, this area never receives direct sunlight. The primer and latex in this area was extremely difficult to remove.

Solution was the old standby, Back to Nature's BFS II. This is a specialty stripper, originally developed to remove multiple layers of paint in a single pass. Even then, still had to beat the snot out of the wood with the PW. Funny, the builder must have run out of mahogany spindles, about half in this area are PT SYP, along with the bottom gate which must have been added later.

As mentioned, the stripper cream is viscous and clings to vertical wood. The ground cover underneath the deck is Pachysandra, a pervasive, tough plant that grows in NJ like a weed. Some leaves may have been spotted by dripping stripper, but I did not notice any. Certainly no damage.

There are many woods marketed as mahogany, but are instead various types of meranti of the Shorea group, typically from Asia. Philippine mahogany is one such wood. True, real mahogany is American mahogany that comes from Central and South America. There is an African mahogany, but I have never seen it and apparently it is not as durable as American mahogany.

My experience with meranti is that it does not take anywhere near the amount of paraffinic oil that true mahogany does. Maybe your "dry" deck is meranti.

[Celeste 341]

Ahhhh...the perfect thread! Great information and a stunning job, Rick.