staining mahagony deck

[sky's]

Need advise on staining a outdoor deck made of Cambara. Probably not spelt correctly? Anyway power washed the deck yesterday and typically you see blotchy areas were the power washer cleaned deeper and some areas were the wood is naturally darker. My GOAL with this project is to stain the deck and bring back the natural colors. I have used Sikens in the past on new decks would that be a good choice on a deck that is approx. 10 years old?? Thanks :confused:

[steadyon]

cabot austrailian timber oil works nicely

[Resident 2B]

I second the recommendation of Cabot Austrailian Timber Oil. I just had the front farmers pourch done with it and it looks great. I would sand with 100 grit before applying, especially if you pressure washed. The floor must be very dry before applying the Timber Oil.

R2B

[Rattlesnake Guy]

Looking at some discussion groups about the Cabot material there seems to be some concern about the low VOC version not drying or working as well as the other version. (3400 good, 9400 bad)

[Resident 2B]

We used the regular stuff in natural color, no tint. It dried in a day and was usable in three days. These were days in April with dry air.

R2B

[NoBozo]

Pressure washing ANY WOOD is NOT good for the wood. Wooden planks.. have Soft wood fibers and Harder wood in any given plank. The fact that you are able to see the Grain of the wood is showing you the Soft and Harder wood.. The pressure washer removes the soft wood fibers and leaves the harder wood fibers standing BOLD.

YES: It cleans the wood. It will be pretty for a couple of weeks. The weathered (Gray) color will come back in very short order. Now you will have a very rough surface..hills and valleys ..grooves..between the lengthwise grain of the plank.. :look:

Whether you stain or not after pressure washing is IRRELEVANT. You will have a rough surface. The SOFT wood is GONE. :( NB

[SIKSUKR]

I second NB's post at least in reguard to softer woods. I PW my cedar deck and the results he described were very evident. Really exaggerated high and low rings. It did more damage than good. I have used different cleaners with pretty good results and used Sikens after and only had maybe one season of good appearance. My deck is a very large 10 by 40 surrounding my pool and has a high sun exposure. I've pretty much given up on it and will not replace it with wood. FWIW

[tis]

I am told that a lot of contractors like the Messmers.

Out of Sikkens, penafin, cabots, super deck, the Messmers seems to be the latest choice. We found that if you start using sikkens, you have to do it every year.

We had a cabmara deck at one time and while it was very pretty when it was new, it never looks as nice afterward and took a lot of work. Everything we have now is not wood and it is so much easier to take care of. I love it!

[sky's]

Pressure washing ANY WOOD is NOT good for the wood. Wooden planks.. have Soft wood fibers and Harder wood in any given plank. The fact that you are able to see the Grain of the wood is showing you the Soft and Harder wood.. The pressure washer removes the soft wood fibers and leaves the harder wood fibers standing BOLD.

YES: It cleans the wood. It will be pretty for a couple of weeks. The weathered (Gray) color will come back in very short order. Now you will have a very rough surface..hills and valleys ..grooves..between the lengthwise grain of the plank.. :look:

Whether you stain or not after pressure washing is IRRELEVANT. You will have a rough surface. The SOFT wood is GONE. :( NB

i think i will have to take on a good sanding on this deck with a finish sander i estimate it to be 10 years old? but i like your response and i agree with you. they had alot of mold that why i opted for the pressure wash?? anyway will sand and probably go with the sikens for the finish thanks for your input:)

[Belmont Resident]

I’ve been pressure washing decks for years with no ill effects. It is the only way to remove mold & mildew as well as all the ground in dirt. Do not believe what others who do not do this for a living are saying. Yes it is recommended that you sand afterwards if needed.
I went to a contractors show and was told pressure washing was highly recommended on a brand new Mahogany deck to open the wood up so it will properly and evenly accept stain.
Now that being said I also do not recommend Mahogany decks because they generally require maintenance every year to keep them looking good. The exception being an enclosed porch as it does not see the weather. All of the products are changing and the new VOC laws are not helping. The new materials tend not to deter mold and mildew growth as well as the old ones did. I’ve tried many products and they all seem to have a life of one year before they loose their ability to repel water. Penofin marine oil seems to be the most durable but still you are looking at every 2 years max. If the deck is cracked and checked then nothing shy of a solid stain which will fill in the cracks will do anything to prevent it from getting worse.
Mahogany looks awesome and everybody loves that new look but it requires a lot of time and money to PROPERLY maintain it so that it retains that new look.
Good luck with it either way.
Oh and when applying any product, do not apply it in direct sunlight and I highly recommend doing it in the evening so that it has all night to be absorbed. Someone mentioned about it not drying. I had that happen to me and it was because the sun hit the surface before it had time to fully penetrate. Follow the directions and wipe up any extra oils sitting on the surface. Yes this means walking on the newly stained deck but it is necessary and will not affect the finished look.

[donnamatrix]

I power wash our deck and porch to remove the mildew, etc., and agree that it can impact the wood, but still only real way to get rid of mold/mildew. A couple years ago I used Olympic waterproof "stain" and on part of the porch it never dried... I don't really want to stain the wood a different color, I just want to provide some waterproofing to the wood. The wood is pressure treated decking. Appreciate any info on what would be best product to use.

[Slickcraft]

The Consumer Reports top rated clear deck sealer is "Thompson's WaterSeal Advanced Waterproofer".

[codeman671]

We used Superdeck instead of Australian Timber Oil and were happy with it. I could be mistaken but I thought Cabot had or was discontinuing the Timber Oil line.

Cabot loves to change their lines around often. We stained our log home inside and out using their Timberjack line and like the product. Shortly after they discontinued it without a replacement so we had to hit every store in the area to buy up extra stock for our first recoat. Since then we have gone to Sikkens which is a bit more finicky to conditions when applying.

[fatlazyless]

For just four dollars/gallon the Gilford Wal-Mart has about six gallons of fence and deck, latex exterior, solid color stain in CEDAR color which is sort of a light brown, made by McCloskey Paint & Stain. Used to sell for 20-dollars plus/gal and is now just four dollars.

Next to the Wal-Mart, the Gilford Dollar store has some 2" angle paint brushes w/ real wood handles for one dollar each!


......ayuh!

[moose tracks]

I have a mahogany deck and I have good luck with Penofin, penetrating oil finish for hardwoods. I pressure wash the deck first to clean and open the pores of the wood to improve absorption of the oil. I let the deck dry for 48 hours and when it has fully dried I apply the Penofin using a lamb’s wool applicator. The Penofin finish contains Brazilian Rosewood oil which penetrates into the wood and provides ultraviolet protection. Since it is an oil, mineral spirits is needed for clean up.

[BroadHopper]

My father and grandfather swear by Cuprinol and been using it for decades. When the Feds regulated the sale of Cuprinol, He bought a pallet off BG and continued using it for years after. Our dock was 50 years old before we had to replace it!

Cuprinol is gone so we use the next best thing, DukBak or DuckBak, I can't recall the spelling. Last supply was in Portsmouth. This product is popular in Maine. I highly recommend this product.

[Winni4life]

Pressure washing is recommended, only to wash away dirt mildew(with cleaner). Too much pressure will damage wood.
Mahoagany Epae and other exotic woods require special transoxide stains.
Trouble with Cabot's and Sikeens drying and lapping. Recommend California Storm Stain Hardwood OIl Finish. Available at Johnson Paint Wolfboro or Home Beautiful Laconia.