Advice On IPE

Stone Mountain

Need some help guys. I built a deck out of IPE with cedar rail and skirt. The customer LOVEs it, but part of the deal is to seal the cedar. Now they want to know what we can do with the IPE. Can we seal it or stain it? If so, with what?
Jon Hyatt, you might know this, or maybe Bonesaw.

Thanks again.

Steve

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Residential Deck Specialist: Vist our Website
www.fenceanddeck.ca

PressurePros

Steve, I don't sell to Canada so I will say my WoodZotic Hardwood Stain and Seal outlasts everything on the market. In our testing, Messmer's UV for hardwood came in second so that would be a decent product for you to use. We specialize in hardwood staining in the field (30,000 sq ft per seaon on average) and two products I would say to stay away from for poor performance would be Penofin and Cabot's Australian Timber Oil.

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Ken Fenner
Pressure Washing PA
Roof Cleaning Services PA

Mike Finley

Always used Penofin Exotic hardwood on Ipe, can't beat the beautiful look it creates and never had any issues with it, and Colorado with it's brutal UV is one of the harshest testing grounds for stains. Any stain will have to be reapplied eventually so consider what work is involved in the next application, Penofin wins hands down in that arena out here, because all that is required is a wash with Simple Green and reapply.

John's a big fan of TWP and I'm sure will be along to give you the scoop on it.

Stone Mountain

Odd to see two such completely opposing opinions on Penofin.
We've tried Beahr, and a few others for cedar, and what seems to work best is Cabot. I'll try something else for the IPE.
Thanks guys.

__________________
Residential Deck Specialist: Vist our Website
www.fenceanddeck.ca

Mike Finley

I would take into consideration Ken's huge difference in amount experience compared to me, he's got a lot of square footage under his belt to draw expeience from. He is also in a climate more similar to yours. I'm sure he will give up some more details about his opinions if asked.

I will say that sometimes we all have a tendency to split hairs, we are all professionals and we have a tendency to get caught up in things that matter little in the long run. Comparing something that is 9.5 on a scale of 1 to 10 with one that is a 9.3 gets kind of silly when we step back. Any product chosen out of the circle of good, high quality products is always going to be a better one than one of the lower quality products such as Behr. So in the end we are mostly just splitting hairs.

It ends up being a Ford vs Chevy vs GMC kind of thing. Which one is better?

In the end it just comes down to our own opinions. If there really was a definitive answer there would be only one stain on the market and all the rest would be run out of business, that's simply not the case, and one stain being the end all best stain, hands down in all circumstances simply isn't the case either.

PressurePros

With all due respect to Mike, wood restoration and sealing is what we do. I'm sure I have opinions on some bathroom fixtures or what have you that I think are great based upon personal experience but Mike would certainly be able to tell me otherwise based upon his field experience. Penofin does not have good mold fighting capability nor enough color shift protectant. Based upon what I see here in the Mid Atlantic most Penofin decks look terrible. From information I have received from hundreds of Restore-A-Deck customers around the country, Penofin does not hold up. Cabot's ATO used to be a good product but constant reformulations have left it lacking in a ton of areas. It also does not hold up.

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Ken Fenner
Pressure Washing PA
Roof Cleaning Services PA

Mike Finley

I was going to mention the mold aspect, I have heard that before too, in regard to the rosewood oil feeding mold in wet climates. Like I said, Ken is in a more similar climate to you then I am, out here mold and humidity is not really an issue but it might be a bigger consideration where Steve is.

Ken, I hope I came across right, in my second reply, as I wanted to make it clear that you've got way more experience in this then I do, I would figure you do more stuff like this in a week then I have done in a lifetime.

John Hyatt

Hi Ya Ken!! Seems like we have been on this a time or two already.

TWP 116 or 516 in green mafia states for ipe,hands down the best outdoor finish I have ever put on, no prep needed for the overcoat just clean it off and wait for good weather. John