This one fooled me...

[RPetry 564]

Was staining an ipe' job today, and the neighbor walks on over. Admires the work, and asks for an estimate.

Saw this from a distance the other day, assumed it was beat up old PT. See the first picture, its an elevated deck. Walk up a metal circular stairs to the deck surface and low and behold. Its good wood!

For you new guys, carry spray bottles of NaOH in various concentrations on your truck, along with acids. Not only for testing various stains, but for "putting on a show". Nothing sells a job more efficiently than bringing dead wood back to life. Especially when the next door neighbors deck is looking like a million bucks!

[TNRoofCleaner 16]

Like the old saying, never judge a book by it's cover. Great find there.

[RPetry 564]

Like the old saying, never judge a book by it's cover. Great find there.

Pat,

Peer pressure, or in this case, neighborhood pressure of "keeping up with the Jones's" also is a factor in good, quick sales.

Attached are pictures of the next door neighbor's just finished new ipe' deck. Makes his wood look like moldy Trex! Gotta' love ipe'.

[fireandrain 39]

Rick,

Great work, as always. Is that RS Med. Red? Looks fantastic. I have really come to love IPE!

[RPetry 564]

Matt,

Yes, the stain is RS medium red. I could check my stain orders the past few years, but I would guess we use it 3 to 1 over the other RS colors. The only bad thing about it is the name, its more brown, with just a touch of red tint.

The old, moldy deck at the top of the thread is 6 yr. old ipe', that has never been cleaned or stained.

[Paul Kassander 26]

That wood really held up well.

[RPetry 564]

That wood really held up well.

Paul,

The wood is ipe', which is so dense and hard, weathering really does not seem to have much effect or deterioration.

We'll probably get to the job in about 2 weeks. It will be interesting to contrast the finished old ipe' with the neighbor's finished new ipe'.

[RPetry 564]

Started staining this little ipe' job today. Unbelievable. This ipe' is just taking a ton of oil. Absolutely flooded the floor, and will probably stop back later in the week to give it a 2nd go round.

I always encouraged new ipe' customers to wait a year, now 6 years seems better. The coverage on the horizontal wood will be about 120 sq. ft. per gallon of Ready Seal.