Should i sand my mahogany deck

I want to stain it a different color as well. What process should I use here? Clean and then brighen the wood first with Restore A Deck Kits and then lightly hand sand or buff to with 60 grit paper to remove splinters. I have sanded my pine deck with grit, I know now I should have used 60 grit.

How do i open the pores back up? Hello I have a 5 year old deck. Deck has turned grey in color now. My questions :. You do not need to sand for prep. Use a deck cleaner and pressure washing. Brightener after. You never apply a sealer over a deck stain. Can we stain the deck with a semi transparent stain or do we have to use a solid stain again? Thanks in advance for your input.

If you remove all of the solid stain, then you can go with a penetrating semi-transparent like one of these brands:. Reply Nadia M. Can you please let me know if I can fix this somehow?

Pls see picture. Thank you. The IPE looks gray still. Clean that off the gray first and neutralize all with a deck brightener. The Stripper raises the pH of the wood, that is the reason the spots are there.

You have to use the brightener to get it to lighten. Thank you for your reply. I will maybe use just a clear IPE oil. Which cleaner would you recommend for that? Thanks again. The container says to prep the wood by using a household bleach solution and lightly power washing the wood. Do I still need to use a wood brightener? Will the pecan color look different with or without using a brightener? You need to clean and brighten the wood.

Hello, My deck is approx 12 years old ipe mahogany. I am thinking of having the deck sanded being sure not to smooth it out too much and close all of the pores. I have used a variety of products after the cleaning. Those products were Australian Timber Oil and a couple of other products targeted at exotic woods. I performed these cleanings and timber oil, etc.

My efforts have never been rewarded. The only time the deck looked good was when it was brand new and when it rains. The timber oil, etc.

I would like to use an opaque latex stain to beautify this deck. However, this is not the proper course of action. Such as, putting a layer of X over the top of the deck…. You should never use a solid stain on Mahogany.

Best to strip and or sand it all down to the bare wood and then brighen the wood. Stain with one of these brands:. If you want to replace it, you would have to remove the current wood as you cannot but a composite over it. Oxyalic acid ruined my 6 month old PT pine deck. I carefully followed directions, and rinsed thoroughly. It looked great as it went on, but even after rinsing each board at least times, it dried with a white film.

I spent a few months working with the manufacturer, to no avail. Do the oxygen based cleaners work well? And should I use it before or after I sand? Question 2, I have trees and humidity in Virginia, with a north facing deck; any advice on stains that inhibit mildew?

Oxalic Acid what is in some brighteners does not prep new wood. You need to use a deck cleaner first to remove the oxidized wood cells and then use a wood brightener after. Your wood is far from ruined though just needs to be done correctly. Reply Dawn 1 year ago Have what I think is a pt pine deck, unsure of age. Was very grayed and weathered. Still could see old stain Olympic woodland oil unsure when previous home owner applied.

Started sanding some blotchy areas which has snowballed into sanding the entire deck by hand. I am in Omaha, Nebraska and the weather is turning fast here. Thanks for all the help! Appreciate it greatly! I have an approximate sq ft cedar deck that is 5 yrs old. We never prepped the wood prior to staining and now the finish is peeling off the deck. Can someone give me any advice.

It claims it is a one application approach? I was keen to use this product as it is very clean with no toxins. Also I feel the pain of all those currently sanding, I am about 4 days in now sanding my sq foot deck! Yikes it takes a long time! No, we never used it but there are plenty of other stains that are low VOC without toxins. I second the drum sander, and will add edger to the mix for the edges and railings. Like cleaning your bathroom with an electric toothbrush!

Drum sanders and edgers have a bit of a learning curve. One of his videos is a reaction to the top hits on YouTube about sanding a floor. His techniques are tried and true, and he demonstrates and explains the science of wood sanding very well.

Best of luck! I have sanded the surface but want to sand in between the wood slats if possible to get rid of the darker stain. Please advise on tool and or method. Hi, I have some question about sanding decks: 1. Do you know what is the best technology abrasive for sanding what brands?

What is your better recommendation to sanding and clean a Ipe wood deck and other oil woods or harwoods. I have a sqft deck and have been sanding a total of 15 hours on and off now. L I am almost done but never thought it would take this long. I had to resort to 40 grit to remove the failing deck paint. Buy the heavy, wet pieces and avoid the light, dry sticks. Once onsite, stack the joists on sleepers a few inches or more off the ground and cover with a tarp until you need them.

That will help maintain an even moisture level. Snapping a line on the ledger and setting all the joist hangers exactly even will almost guarantee the joist tops will be uneven. Yes, uneven. Despite your best efforts to get joists with the same moisture content, their heights will vary.

Put those joist hangers aside for the moment. Align the top of each joist with the top of the ledger and attach each joist to the ledger without joist hangers. That hook will support the house end of each joist the beam supports the far end. You may need to tap some joist ends so they are exactly even with ledger. Shoot a couple of nails to hold each joist in place.

Once all the joists are up and even, add the hangers: snug each hanger from below and install the nails.

Now the joist tops are all even at the ledger. Be sure to install blocking between the joists, mid-span between the ledger and the beam. Interior finish carpenters have other fancy tricks to further address flatness issues, but they are not worth doing. Your deck is outside. It will experience moisture and temperature variations from 10 to 90 — per cent and degrees. It will be fine.

Regards, Jim. Thank you for your insightful blogs! We had porch railings redone in April in mahogany. They are now graying with black stains by nails. Going to lightly sand and treat. Temperature is not supposed to go below 47 all week. Are your recommendations the same for mahogany railings as for decks? Looked into Penofin and T. Just want our beautiful railings to have the great color and richness they had when installed in April….

Thanks for your input….. Robin, Thanks for your comment. Yes, the same recommendations about treating decking apply to treating rails. The temperature must be warm enough, and the wood needs to be dry enough. I like TWP for treating cedar and pressure treated wood, but is is not specifically formulated for hardwood like mahogany.

Yes, the new ATO does take longer to dry and will remain sticky if too much is applied. But the new water-based preservatives must be applied more carefully; you cannot let them puddle, but should wipe off excess within a few minutes. Thus I recommend wiping your mahogany rails soon after staining them to remove any excess. Thanks so much for your speedy reply! Yes, stickiness is a concern for the handrail. Daytime temps of 58, night time temps of 47… sound like it should work??

Hi, I am so grateful for all the info here. Maureen, Cabot, like other stain manufacturers, has conservative application recommendations. Although ATO on your deck might dry in 40 — 45 degree temperatures, it will take longer, and in late October you risk real problems staying sticky for weeks and worse. The sun will bleach some color from your deck over the winter, but the stain next spring will still bring the mahogany to a rich, deep color.

Extremely helpful information. We installed a mahogany deck last summer for a client—all the wood except a small triangle runs in the same direction, the triangle we installed on a diagonal.

My client was not happy that the wood on the diagonal always looked different than the main part of the deck—even tho we treated all the mahogany exactly the same with a Sikins oil stain. To make the diagonal look more like the main deck when looking straight down the deck, we added another coat of the stain a few days later—that seemed to do the trick—but here comes the bad part—after a year the double stained triangle still has some color and is totally blotchy—-the rest of the deck has gone silver grey and is ready for a new coat of stain or sealer.

My question is how do we get the blotchy finish off the triangle—should we sand it? Renate, Diagnosing problems like yours is difficult at best, especially over the internet. Penetrating oils Sikkens included need to soak into the wood. In fact, their labels often warn against applying another coat too soon. For an even appearance, sand that offending triangle before re-treating.

Getting the triangle to match the rest of the deck will be tricky. Sanding the remainder of the deck offers the best probability, since that would bring all parts of the deck to the same state. When all parts of the deck appear the same, treat the entire deck.

Good luck. Regarding the vs series. I am in NH, and was informed that the series has not been available for over 5 years due to regulations. Is there somewhere in NE that the can even be purchased if desired? Also, I am about to install new mahogany. What are your recommendations for spacing?

Do you agree? Mark, Yes, the older Cabot ATO series was oil based and was withdrawn from the market in most states because it did not meet the new VOC regulations. I do not know where you can buy any series ATO.

But the new series does meet the VOC regulations, is readily available, and seems to hold its color better than the oil based See paragraph 5A above. When spacing mahogany boards, ventilation concerns are more important than geography. Decks lower than about two feet high or taller decks enclosed with perimeter skirting often lack the ventilation needed to let the deck boards dry thoroughly after rain. Jim, thanks for keeping this blog running.

Good info. I have a good sized sqft Cambara Mahogany deck here in NH that is well-ventilated and while south facing gets pretty good shade for much of the afternoon. It still looks great but needs a new a redo. I wonder what your opinion is about making that transition.

Also wonder if you have any experience or heard about Timber Ox Green, a Bio-based formulation from the midwest using castor bean, citrus, soy and corn oil which seems to have a lot going for it and some pretty enthusiastic advocates. Karl, Thanks for your encouraging words. Good questions. Initially — after only two months in direct sunlight — the new low VOC holds its color better. So I am encouraged about the long term prospects of the new formula.

Do you have any fastner sugestions other than top screwing with stainless screws? And should I consider treating all 6 sides of the decking before I install the decking or install and stain later? Tiger Claw clips do not pull the mahogany tight to the joists and create a deck surface that is slightly uneven and squeaks when walked on.

I do recommend pre-treating all sides of mahogany installed on low decks. We have a mahogany deck that was installed two summers ago. It gets a lot of sun on half of it.

The other half is under a porch overhead so not as much sun. We are about to stain it and like your recommendations. Question is, a railing has to be painted as well that goes along the porch.

Which should we do first? The porch or the railing? The railing is primed already so we feel as though it can wait but the deck has been left untreated for two summers. Jen, Rather than painting the railing, I recommend stain.

Paint can peel and flake; stain penetrates better, ages gracefully, and is available in any color. Protect the floor below with a drop cloth. Jim, We have a mahogany deck that was constructed about 6 years ago May It is fully exposed to sun and the elements. After it was installed I treated it with Cabots ATO and it looked beautiful that first year but the next year it was terrible. However, the rails, spindles and lattice were not bad. I have since had it sanded by a professional wood floor guy three times and restained the year before last with Sikens Water Base Stain and last year with Sikens Oil Base Stain.

Each time it looked like new but the next year it was back to the same problem. Sanding your deck will remove the top layer, but may drive some mold spores deeper into the wood. I have two suggestions. Rather than sanding try a deck cleaner and deck brightener.

Better: Take pictures of your deck problems, send them to several stain manufacturers, and ask for their analysis and recommendations. They have experts, perhaps biased experts, but you can compare several responses.

I am about to install a cambara deck. I ultimately want the deck to have a natural grey weathered look. Is there a way to let the deck turn grey but keep it safe? Cambara mahogany is naturally rot resistant. Just let it weather and do not treat it. An untreated cambara deck will last a long time before it fails — 10 years? Longer if it is high enough to have good ventilation underneath. Probably longer if it is treated with a preservative.

Those pigments would color the wood you do not want colored. Save some scrap cambara boards and let them weather like your deck. Then you can test several preservatives on the scraps before you apply your choice on your deck.

Tell me how it goes. Hi, we have a new mahogany deck. We are looking to let it silver up. Unfortunately tradesman have walked clay across it which looks like has now become baked into the deck by the sun.

I tried a test patch using a water blaster with a circular brush which I thought would would be of milder application not direct blasting , however this resulted in affecting the grain of the wood and leaving a burred look.

Can you recommend a way we can clean the clay off our deck without damaging the grain of the wood. Good luck, Jim Finlay. Confessions from a serial deck abuser……. From this day forward I will let my deck dry for at least three days, get rid of all the junk between the boards, return the new roller I just bought, nor more power washing and damaging boards…..

Thank you for all of the helpful hints. A newly reformed deck abuser! Hi, Your page has been extremely helpful for us as we clean and plan to treat our Mahogany deck. We have gotten the Mahogany Flame from Cabot. A neighbor said oils sometimes turn the decking black with time, mold, sun. Is this something I should worry about? We made the right call. I asked my guy how to finish it, i. I had collected several cans of clear exterior grade spar urethane over the years; it seemed like a good choice on a covered porch.

Problem was — about 18 or so months in — we noticed that the front edges of the boards, though, were starting to loose their finish, flaking and peeling away. I asked a neighbor, a guy who works with boats, about it. I guess it made sense. UV rays are a bear, and my Douglas fir siding can attest to that.

Did he have a solution? I began to look elsewhere. I pulled a copy of This Old House , the mag, out of my archives. And I read: Two ways to go, the article generally said. With a couple quick Google searches, I targeted a product, Penofin. Pricey and hard to find, I searched on.

Then I came across Australian Timber Oil. So my wife re-finished part of the side porch. The problem was — with the Timber Oil — on a high traffic porch, it simply wore off. Wear was even and it appears that the boards were still getting some protection. But dirt was getting rubbed in, and some of the boards were starting to cup.

If using wood fillers, make sure they are fully dry and hardened before you move on to sanding. Attach to grit sandpaper in your power sander. Your goal will not be to create the smoothest possible surface, so avoid finer-grit sandpapers, which will clog the pores and prevent stains and sealers from penetrating the wood.

Sand all areas of the surface decking, using medium pressure on the sander. Check for evenness of appearance as you go. Avoid the temptation to sand to a glass-smooth surface; cedar and redwood and pressure-treated pine are relatively soft woods that can be gouged and damaged if you press too hard with the sander. Use this same technique to sand the top surface of the stair treads.

When finished, thoroughly vacuum the surface of the deck and stair treads with a shop vacuum. Sanding the outer edges of the deck board may be a little difficult, especially if the railings have a very low bottom baluster rail that makes access difficult.

Here, a smaller detail sander may prove useful if your standard orbital sander won't fit. Again, use a sandpaper grit of 60 to 80 for the end grain of decking boards, and make sure to sand as evenly as possible, since stains can be absorbed unevenly if the end grains are not sanded to the same smoothness. Vacuum the edges of the boards, then wipe them free of dust.

Sanding the railing of your deck is very important since it is the most visible element and the one where people focus their attention. Additionally, the handrail is particularly important to get smooth to avoid splinters that might injure hands. On railings, use to grit sandpaper, and take pains to sand all surfaces and crevices. Here, a detail sander or even sanding by hand may be necessary to get to all areas, but again, do not sand to a smoothness that will prevent the stain from penetrating.

Vacuum the railings thoroughly.