May stop hardwoods altogether

[plainpainter 217]

Yeah I put warrantees on my work will do my customers right at the end of 2 years for a fraction of the price, but I have all these mahogany customers where my staining is literally just washed out at the end of 12 months. Not happy with stain longevity, especially since I never heard much complaints until you get to ipe. This never seems to be an issue with pressure treated - I am sick of this business, it's not my fault that staining products don't do what people want them to do.

[Greg R 82]

I guess that would depend on what your selling (telling) them? If you give them expectations on annual maintenance then they should come to expect annual maintenance. If your telling them 2 or 3 years then yes your probably going to have some disgruntled customers. Its all in educating the customer Dan.

[plainpainter 217]

pressure treated doesn't need annual maintenance. My two year warrantee is a maintenance contract for pressure treated - but I guess I will have to shorten it for Mahogany. I don't have as much experience with hardwoods as other members - but I haven't found a product that doesn't last more than a year on Mahogany, unless it's a semisolid.

[bigchaz 157]

I always tell them a year on hardwood. No longevity warranty on the hardwoods either, just a guarantee against finish cracking or peeling.

[James 624]

Mahogany takes more oil than Pressure Treated.

[plainpainter 217]

Jim - my experience with Mahogany and how oil it accepts is bi-modal. Absolutely some of the Mahogany decks I do take in more oil than pressure treated - but the other group of Mahogany takes in a lot less oil than pressure treated.

[James 624]

There is about 13 different species of wood that goes under the mahog name. The lighter the color the crappier the wood is. The darker the color the more dense it is. The newer is it and the more sanding you do to the surface the less oil it will take.

I take care of a boat load of mahog decks. Very difficult to strip and prep the surface. Most I maintain are every other year with sum every year. I came up with the RS/WTX mix for Mahog that someone copied.

[plainpainter 217]

Jim - this Mahogany deck last year took in very little stain - I do sand all my work with a floor sander. I noticed with Mahogany there is this layer kind of dark 'scum' wood that remains even after a sodium hydroxide strip and acid balance. So I like to sand that layer off as much as possible before the staining.

[Jake Clark 17]

Dan.

Give our Mahogony stain a try. I think you will be pleased.

Jake

[plainpainter 217]

Is it a different composition from the remainder of the line? Does it have more curing resins vs. seal oils?

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Hardwoods always need annual maintenance.

The extent of that maintenance is what should be considered.

I do not like to strip a deck where it has stayed intact vs weathered or traffic worn.

Let your customers know, this is a wood that cannot hold a stain well due to it being porous vs fibrous in addition to the extractives being impermeable to stains and sealers which is why they can't penetrate well.

Rod!~

[bigchaz 157]

That deck looks real good Dan, nice color to it

[plainpainter 217]

Thanks Charlie, I'll pm you the recipe