I am going to be building a deck using Ipe’ as the finished floor. The customer, who is purchasing the Ipe’, was told by the salesman that “if we are going to put a finish on the Ipe’ we should sand it first.” I have never heard of this and the boards are pretty smooth to begin with. Why would we have to sand the Ipe’ if indeed it is necessary at all?!
Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Replies
It depends on what you mean by "finish". The ipe I've used is certainly smooth enough, but it seems to already have some sort of light finish -- don't know if it's some kind of oil, wax or something else. Maybe he figured you would need to remove that before the new finish would stick properly. I'd do a test piece and see what the client thinks.
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
I don't know if it was recommended or not, but we took belt sanders to ours before we applied Penofin. I think we used 180 grit, but it was a while ago.
No.
if you go to penofins website, you can sand the wet coat for a glossier look, but I think that is more for boats and such. I like the marine oil finish which is clear rather than their hardwood formula which will darken the wood some. Just make sure you follow their instructions and don't put it on when it hot and in strong direct sun, it will dry on the surface.
I'm guessing that you need to sand the surface to rough it up. This create a better bond between the finish and the IPE.
Or, I'm totally wrong. It all depends on the "finish".
Bob's next test date: 12/10/07