Need Some Help w/ Ipe

[Big Bill 14]

I have been asked to bid on a fairly large Ipe deck. I have done PT decks before, but this is the first Ipe deck that I have ever seen in my area. The homeowner wants it prepped and oiled with an oil that she insists on using, she called it "Rosewood Oil". She said that she has done the research on it. so I guess she kind of knows what she wants. My recommendation to her was for me to strip the deck, then I will apply the oil for her. My main question is if you need to brighten with citralic after stripping (I would think yes to neutralize the stripper).

Beth, Rod, Celeste, Jim Foley, Jarrod, or anybody else - give me some advice on this one.

I will attach pics when I figure it out.

[James 625]

Penofin wood sealers have rosewood oil in them for hard woods. Very popular in the east for treating hard woods. Does the deck have a finish now or is it new?

[Big Bill 14]

The deck has a finish on it now, the deck is about 3 - 4 years old. She couldn't give me the name, but I do believe it could be Penofin. I will have to check back with her on that to make sure. I really want to do a great job on this deck, it is in a really high end subdivision that I do alot of work in.

[PressurePros 249]

Longest lasting product on ipe is Wood Tux. Call Russell Cissell for more info. Be careful stripping, easy to leave wand marks.

[Russell Cissell 65]

Bill

You might try doing a test patch with good cleaner like EFC-38. Ipe is a very dense wood that allows for little penetration. Any existing finish should be very easy to remove. I doubt you would need to use a stripper like HD-80.

Any time that you do use a stripper it's important to neutralize. With a product like EFC-38, it isn't required, but you might want to apply Citralic just for the additional brightening effect.

Feel free to give me a call Monday if you like.

Best of Luck!

[Big Bill 14]

Ken and Russell, thanks for the reply. I have stripped a few p/t decks and used citralic to neutralize. I just wasn't so sure about the Ipe. When I do strip decks, I do use very low pressure. I will first do a test patch with a sodium percarb cleaner that I have to see how it looks. If that doesn't look like it's doing the trick, then I will try some sh stripper that I have. By the way, what is the shelf life of the sodium percarb and citalic? What I have is probably 1 1/2 years old. If I remember correctly, I think I read that the older it gets, the weaker it gets.

I don't do alot of decks, people here just don't seem to want to spend the money having their decks refinished. In over 3 years in business, I have probably only done 15 total deck restorations. This year, this is something I really want to push, the reason I really want to make this job look good.

Russell, I will definitely give you a call Monday morning.

Thanks again.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

Hi,

just got back in.

If you are going to let the customer tell you what to put on the wood, then who is the professional?

Penofin users in our area have had nothing but problems on Ipe'. I have heard it is a great product, but from what I have been called out to remedy would not be favorable in these instances. The stuff was difficult to remove for maintenance and attracted microbial pollutants which stuck on the coating and promoted accelerated mildew growth.

Customers may do research but it is the experience of those in the field that have the real answers.

Rosewood oil is an aromatherapy ingredient and the buzz about it is that the tree in which the oil is derived is endangered.

The customer would be better off using a Danish Oil if it is the moisturizing properties she is looking for. But she must understand that it will not protect it from turning gray and will not last more than 4-6 months in full sun.

Russells product, I believe it's called Timber oil, may be a suitable candidate.

Rod!~

ps, stripping Penofin will take HD-80 near full strength to strip...been there done that!

[James 625]

Penofin Is easy to maint.- You just have to understand how. It's easy to remove and follow the directions on the can. Over appling causes the most problems. After applying the product to the deck twice it's probably best to remove and start again. In your climate the Rosewood oil maybe an issue with mold. A quick Bleaching for maint. does the trick if mildew is an issue.

[Big Bill 14]

Rod - thanks for the reply. She couldn't tell me the exact name of the product that she used previously, just that it had something with rosewood oil. When I googled Rosewood oil, I came up with the same aromatherapy crap too. Then I googled rosewood oil stain, the only stain that showed up was Penofin. I will find out out more from her in the morning. Believe me, I am doing research on this, mainly for the reason that whatever finish she has on the deck is failing in a bad way. She does have some spare boards laying on the ground next to the deck that I am going to ask her to let me do some testing with. I think that after she sees what I can do with the test boards, she will have a more educated idea of what she wants.

Jim, you are right about the mold down here. Up until Katrina hit here, she told me that the deck was shaded really well, until the 2 large oak trees were blown down (the trees were on the south side of the deck, the 120+ mph winds were from the north during the storm, so the trees missed her deck and house). She did tell me that there have been 2 coats of finish applied to the deck, (a year apart) but that the wood had never been stripped, just lightly pw'd. I told her that the deck would probably need stripping before another coat of any finish is applied.

Because I have never seen Ipe decks around here, I knew that I had to ask the right people just to make sure. I have read every post on the Grime Scene for the past 4+ years and have learned so much from so many people. Thanks to so many people on here.

[Russell Cissell 65]

Bill

I appreciate Rod recommending our Woodrich Brand Timber Oil however it isn't really suited for your application. Of our entire line of finishes, Timber Oil would fail quickest.

For dense wood like Ipe I would recommend that you go with a higher solids product like Wood-Tux or Woodrich Brand Hardwood Formula Wiping Stain. Both formulas were designed for situations where penetration is limited. I am confident in saying that either formula will outperform any store bought finish by 100% - 200%

We've done extensive testing with Ipe and Cambara and other hardwoods. We found that most finishes fail in as little as 3 months on Ipe. The better ones will last about 6 months. Wood-Tux by way of comparison will easily last 1 - 2 years and beyond. The same is true of our Hardwood Formula Wiping Stain.

If an Ipe deck is to be set up on a maintenance contract, we recommend annual maintenance of the horizontals. In this way, you can clean and freshen the finish without the need for stripping.