Went to the beach house today, and the rain must have been blowing sideways, decking was wet right up to house, about 7 1/2 feet. And it looked beautiful! You could see all the shades of reddish burgundy that make Mahogany beautiful. I bought the wood used off Craigslist, it had cupped in its former life. Once it was off and given plenty of air it dried and flattenned. There are only a few boards that are very slightly bowed up along the edges.
I have someone coming this week to give me an estimate to sand and refinish, but given the way the wood soaked up the rain, I wonder if I could rent a floor polisher and do multiple screen passes, and hit it with some outdoor deck product.
Any Suggestions? I figure if it turned out poorly, I could have it done over professionally. I don’t believe the screening does much damage in the hands of a DIYer as does the sanding machines.
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bump
By mahogany do you mean one of the softer Luann-type products, or Ipe? As long as it isn't Ipe you should be able to do what you suggest.
I think you and I were discussing what it was in another thread, looks like interior doors, Luann I think.
That's right, probably Merenti or Mangaris. I've sanded down discoloration with a random orbit, but I wouldn't recommend it for a large area. Renting a floor sander, or even better, hiring a floor sander, would be the way to go.
if it's needing a floor sander than i'll get a pro, seen to many diy jobs that look like ####.
Hey MikeHad a pro come by today, said it would be 1.50 per sq ft to sand, I apply the finish. But he said he didn't see why I wanted to sand it, said just oil it, sanding would leave it less porous. So I think I'll apply the oil. top and bottom and along edge and see how it holds up. Thought sanding would make it more receptive to whatever went on it. Any thoughts?
Sanding would leave it less porous? If anything sanding would open up previously clogged "pores" and allow more oil in.
Another wood used for decks around here is Cambera. Some or all of the fake mahoganies come with a sealer already applied.
You could also get a deck cleaner. The oil won't last forever anyway; try it on a few boards or the whole deck and see how you like it. If you don't like it, sand it down or wait a couple years and the weather will sand it down for you.
Edited 4/15/2008 9:48 pm ET by Mike_Maines
I think I'll clean it up, oil it and get this summer out of it. Come fall I'll look into another approach, or oil again if i like how it turned out.
watch out sanding mahog, had a customer have a sandman sand a Meranti deck and then oil it looked terrible after