Thanks John
I'll check it out.

Unfortunately I can't get TWP 100 in California. Anyone have experience obtaining a dark color from any of the sikkens products? (considering SRD 250 teak or california redwood color)

Cabot's Australian in Honey Teak.

Thanks for the pic pressurepros. Hard to tell from the size, but I was hoping to go even darker to match the dining room paneling in a carftsman style home. It looks like I would have needed to hand pick only the darkest pieces of ipe in order to have that look.

Am I correct in thinking that Mahogany flame and honey teak ATO are about as dark as i can expect to go?

I think Amberwood is darker than Honey Teak....

I was planning on Mohogany Flame myself, but I dont think i want so much red tone.. thinking of either mixing or going Honey Teak.

Honey Teak and Amberwood mixed one to one is a very nice color.

Brain826,

John Hyatt's suggestion for TWP #116 can be had in your state by ordering TWP #516 ( a high solids, low VOC version of #116)...thats what I went with here in NJ...waiting for it to come in...TWP just came out with it.

There are several products you can choose from: ATO, Twp, and wolman makes a product called E.H.T. Exotic Hardwood Treatment. This may help for the color choice.

Excellent, have you had a chance to play with the Wolman's EHT yet? I just glimpsed at the MSDS but haven't tried it in the field.

Ken,

In your experience with mixing ATO, can you explain the results of each you have used? (colors, likes, etc)
ie. Amberwood and Honey Teak = ?
Honey Teak and Moh Flame = ?
etc....

Thanks

I had a sample of Wolman's EHT. It was just about invisible on the sample Ipe boards I tried - I first washed w/ acetone, then applied samples of TWP, Messmers, and EHT. The messmers and TWP were similar in adding a definite tint and sheen. also, the new Messmer's color Red Mahogany was almopst a perfect match for TPS' 116, both a dark chocalety brown that might appeal to Brain.

PressurePro, I have not used it in the field yet. I mostly use the ATO due to customer choice. I give them a choice of 3 products for Hardwoods. E.H.T. (not used yet), Twp, and ATO. I think TWP 100 series would be okay for hardwoods due to the parafin oil in the formula. But have yet to use it in that fashion. I have done 6 ipe decks and all have ATO. ALL Turned out great. So my expierence tells me to use ATO, however I also like giving the homeowners choices.

Hey guys, my installers used EHT on my ipe and it looked like crap. It had this ugly reddish brown caked on appearance. I don't know if they applied too much of it but unless you are going to take some off with lacquer thinner and apply aussie timber oil (natural) on top (which is what I did and the floors are the best looking I have ever seen). I'd stay away frm the EHT.

I kind of figured I would hear something like this, though any product can have this caked up appearance if applied to thickly and not worked into the surface so the jury is still out I guess. I never use Wolman's products. They aren't horrible but there are better choices. I had to almost fight with some customers this year after Consumer Reports (a total rag publication) reported Wolman's as their top tested semi trans. Ironic that I remove more Wolman;s than I have ever put on.

Aceshigh: All of the ATO's mix well because there are only slight pigmentation variances in each. Honey- Warm brownish tone. Kind of golden brown. Amberwood- more of a reddish tint but still not too intensely red, Mahog Flame- very red but still looks good on certain hardwoods.

I find the mix of amberwood and honey to be very rich looking and the color most people are looking for.

There are so many factors involved in choosing a sealer. Age, species, porosity etc. I can line up ten cedar decks in a row, treat them witht eh same product and no two will look the same and several will look dramatically different.

Thank you for all of the replies everyone.

After cleaning the deck and rinsing I realize that I am fighting against what seams to be too many different species of IPE used.

I originally thought that the overall wood color was lighter than the samples I'd seen from the local lumber yard but realize now that the color in my deck ranges from almost honey gold to red to coffee brown. I'm looking for a way to normalize the color variations but starting to think it is the impossible task (another thread here 'http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/porch/msg1014090518386.html'

I just picked up some Wolmans woodland brown transparent stain (only dark stain i can find locally). The sample I tried doesn't look promising. I originally brushed on a coat and left it per the instrcutions. I checked it a few minutes later and it looked more like paint than stain so i rubbed off as much as i could trying to burnish it into the wood. You can see the grain now but it still doesn't look good to me.

I'm starting to think the unthinkable, rip out the IPE on the upper deck and start over with the wood from the local yard. Ugh. I don't know maybe I'm just too hung up on the samples that i originally saw and this is normal for IPE decking (or the wood i got it scrap from the bottom of the pile :(

check out the photo below. Am i just obsessing or does it look like this deck was made from scrap?

Here is a link that might be useful: Ipe deck photo

Cabot will send you little cans of ATO in all the colors for $5 each, and you can experiment.
We are in the middle of having a deck and pergola put up, and the top of the pergola is Westernb red cedar stained with ATO in Mahogany Flame, which looks gorgeous with our creamy siding and old red brick. The decking boards will be cypress with the same stain. I tested all the colors, thinking I would like the lighter, less red ones better, but when I did the samples and set them outside, I loved the Mahogany Flame. Ipe will of course take the stain differently, but making samples will tell you what you like.
I could never have planned this project and made all the decisions without the help of the generous people on this forum! I'll post a photo when we are done.
Good luck!

Brain826,

Your IPE deck looks fine....the color variations give it character....you do not want monotone color....then it looks like on massive "blob"...don't go through the trouble of ripping it up...I agree you are obsessing...It looks great....get some stain/sealer on there and enjoy it!!!

Thanks for the encouragement sweet. Seems every project of mine goes through this Oh $%!* stage and then I'm happy in the end. Could it just be me? :D

I found the 516 locally finally. Going to give it a try today.

Brian...I go through the same thing through each stage. That Oh $*%! After I get away from it for a few days, or weeks, I am usually OK with it. But I hate that sick feeling that you get when at first it doesn't seem to have turned out as expected. The roller coaster of emotions that I go through on these projects! I get it. For what ever it is worth, I too think that your deck looks interesting in a really good way. We are getting ready to put the finish on out IPE' now.

I do the same thing, too. In the middle of almost every step, I end up stopping in a frantic panic, wondering if I screwed up. I think the deck looks good as is. Is it really as glossy as it looks in the picture?

Brain826
Your deck is absolutely perfect. It is what everyone should expect from an ipe deck. The variations in color and grain
are to be expected and is what makes each deck both beautiful and unique. The consumers expectations are driven by darn good advertising and not a lot of reality.

Brain826,

so how did the application of the TWP #516 come out?...love to hear your experiences and maybe a pic or two of the deck with the TWP on it.

Thanks

I am involved in a very large IPE deck project in which we have already installed about 50,000 board feet of IPE on 50 new decks and we are about to install another 50,000 board feet. The project is at Lake Tahoe, CA which is at 6,000 ft. altitude and has big sun in the summer and a fair amount of snow in the winter.

My question: we have been quite disappointed with the several stains that we have tried over the last two years. They seem to last six months or so. Any suggestions on a process which could give us a good look and maybe last one to two years?

All suggestions are welcome.

Thanks.

Why not do what they do for the Atlantic City boardwalk...let it go silver.

TWP 516. J

You may also want to check out the new WoodZotic from Ken at Restore-a-Deck. Specially formulated for Ipe, but new to the market.

http://www.restore-a-deck.com/woodzotic.html

Check the discussion forum over there, some comments and photos.

Thanks,
Birgit

Just be forewarned, TWP 116 (named rustic oak) looks like redwood... not oak.

Unfortunately, I have 2 unused 5 gallon containers of TWP 116 (I'm in the Chicago suburbs).

Let me know if anyone is interested in buying it from me (click on my user name in this post and then click "send me an email").

If I could do it over on my Ipe deck, I'd use TWP 120 Pecan.

Jim

This is the longest lasting IPE stain on the market.

And this is the longest lasting forum thread at over 17 lol years old. 😃😁