Mahogany & Aussie oil - advice please

[RPetry 564]

Attached is a pic of a NJ shore porch that I serviced last year. The floor and step treads are tongue and groove mahogany, stained with Cabot's Amberwood Aussie oil.

My problem is that numerous areas of the step treads and floor have or are in the process of failing. Granted, the wood does get walked on as this is the main entrance into the home, but most of the floor is protected from both rain and direct sun.

Late this week I will be redoing the floor and step treads at my own expense.

My question is this. Do I do a light sodium percarbonate cleaning with a citric rinse and apply the Aussie oil over top the existing Aussie oil stain? Or would a strip and complete redo of the mahogany be in order?

I not only want the wood to look good, but am trying to get some lifetime out of the stain.

Thanks.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Rick,

I have a couple of questions...

What did you do before you put the aussie down?

How old was the wood and how weathered before you put the aussie down?

Is the owner willing to just have a wash from time to time, since it is a high traffic area, and gets less sun (if that is the case) rather than putting on a finish?

Persoanlly, we always let the owner know it will be a short lived product due to the woods density. Lots of folks want it done for entertaining or general life use for a certain period of time (parties and summer events) and know it will not hold all that well. None of the sealers out there will last on hardwood like they will on softwood. Lack of porosity. Increased density.

If it were me I would say do a light strip on it.

Give me a shout on my cell if you like.

Also you may want to call Everett, he sees quite a bit of Mahogany up that way, more than we see here. He may have other insight.

Beth

[RPetry 564]

Hi Beth,

The mahogany (and cedar balustrade, fascia & step risers) originally had a film finish ( manu. unknown) that was mostly worn. This was stripped (@ 6 oz./gal.), neutalized, and dried to < 12%. The Aussie was applied with lambswool. The mahogany is ~ 6 yrs. old and is not good quality.

On another thread, I believe it was Ken Fenner that had applied multiple layers of Aussie oil to his own mahogany deck with good results. My own leaning is also to strip but if others have had success with another process, I'm willing to give it a try.

[PressurePros 248]

Rick, here is my opinion. Use pure sodium percarb (no TSP or sodium metasilicate) with low dwell time, the usual acid bath after that. My feeling is this.. What is down there is already penetrated as much as it's going to get. Let those deeper wood fibers retain their color without any type of stripping. The result is a more rich finish on the surface with a tad more durability. One of the first decks I ever did years ago (before I even got into residential full time) was a mahogany deck I stripped every year. I noticed each time the wood was getting more bleached out and holding the sealer less and less. My mahogany deck is now retaining all of it's color and holds up to very frequent foot traffic. My digital cam got lifted from my truck by a guy i had to get rid of or I would post a pic for you to see. I'll take one with these throw away cams I have been getting if I find the time to run over to the CVS and get them developed.

Just to make sure we are on the same page. I am not advocating building up coats to the extreme of film forming, just not removing all the sealer when you resurface after 6 months.