This is why you put oil on your Ipe' deck

[jteneyck]

Last year I built a new deck. Big project, not entirely done yet. After I put Ipe' Oil on it when it was first done it looked like this:



Fast forward to this Summer, and it now looked like this:



Completely faded, dirty, disappointingly ugly. The directions on the can of Ipe' Oil says to only apply it once per year, but clearly that is not sufficient. For reference, the wood on the steps and lying on the concrete was purchased at the same time as the rest of the decking, and was never finished with Ipe' Oil, but was stored under the deck out of the sun and direct weather.

To try to make it look good again I started by cleaning it with Cabot's Deck Brightener and Cleaner. It did a good job of removing the dirt and bringing back the color (while wet). After that dried for a day I applied a new coat of Ipe' Oil. This picture shows the change better than words.



I still have to do the skirt boards, but this is what it looks like now:



I'm prepared to do this twice a year, but if it still ages too quickly I'm going to try Penofin Marine Oil, which was highly recommended at an Ipe' related website.

John

[Herb G]

How long before it dried so you can walk on it?

[jteneyck]

I walked on it about 20 hours later with no issues. As long as you follow the directions on the can and make sure not to leave any heavy wet spots I think it will dry OK.

John

[brnhornt]

Thanks for this John. My wife and I were just talking about your deck last week. We're in the VERY early stages in planning a deck and trying to decide between Ipe and Trex. We were both curious how yours was holding up...looks great after being re-oiled...thanks again!

Kevin

[vapochilled]

Not sure which oil your using, I used Messmers UV plus(red mahogany) , once a year is all it takes, but you do still have to clean the deck during the year to retain the bright color.

[jteneyck]

I'm using Ipe' Oil - that's the name of the product. It's sold by Advantage Lumber, where I bought the Ipe' so that's why I used it. I've heard of Messmers, too, and I think it had good reviews, as did Penofin Marine Oil. If it fades as quickly this time I'm going to try one of those two next.

Do you have any comparative photos of what your deck looks like when it's first done to just before you do it again the following year? How badly does it fade?

John

[TomFromStLouis]

Do you think applying a second coat would help?

[jteneyck]

Yes, if it would soak in. The biggest concern with these oils is not leaving any on the surface because it just gets sticky and then you have a mess. The instructions tell you to wipe off any excess after 5 minutes to be sure there is no excess on the surface. I haven't had to do that - which might mean that it's still thirsty and I should add a second coat. Glad you brought that up. I was thinking of putting a second coat on the seats as they were the driest. Maybe I will just on them to see how it takes the oil and if they age less quickly than the deck.

Thanks.

John

[vapochilled]

jteneyck said:

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Yes, if it would soak in. The biggest concern with these oils is not leaving any on the surface because it just gets sticky and then you have a mess. The instructions tell you to wipe off any excess after 5 minutes to be sure there is no excess on the surface. I haven't had to do that - which might mean that it's still thirsty and I should add a second coat. Glad you brought that up. I was thinking of putting a second coat on the seats as they were the driest. Maybe I will just on them to see how it takes the oil and if they age less quickly than the deck.

Thanks.

John

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first three years it drank the oil like it was going out of fashion, does not seem to absorb as much now.
before and after was similar to your pictures until I started cleaning in between, won't bring it back to full shine, but certainly helps.
You'll find in a year or two, it won't fade quite so badly, but these woods do "grey" as part of the oxidation process. moving to the colored messmers help me also

[jteneyck]

Thanks for that info. What do you use to clean it with between oiling intervals?

John