The natural will give you the least amount of protection from the sun. The amberwood & honeyteak don't look much different on ipe, but will provide more protection than the natural. The mahogany flame being the darkest it would give the most protection.

Al

Thanks, Al. I purchased the Mahogany, but also had Amberwood in my hand and couldn't decide. Based on your posting, I'm leaning towards retruning the Mahogany and going with the Amberwood.

Does anyone have experience with this color and if so, how did they like the results?

Amberwood looks phenomenal on ipe.

I went with ATO Amberwood and PressurePros was right, it does look phenomenal on IPE!!! Thanks again all.

Darren

Aussie oil. Oh boy. Any of you live in the Northeastern US? Have any idea that Cabots has changed their formulations three years running due to tighter VOC regs and who knows if they have a reliable product? Last year it flashed so bad in the heat and sun that a decent finish was a lucky draw of the cards? Know that Cabots sold the company to Valspar? Understand that you will in all probability have to strip this linseed oil based stain every two to three years?

Never mind. Ken, I just can't deal with it.

Rick is not a fan of the Aussie Oil. I am skeptical of it with the reformulations we have had in this region of the country. Rick, hang out for awhile, read more posts. Everyone here is a step above do-it-yourselfer.

I pretty sure I could make sacks of money relableing twp and selling it to all these folks,something like Okie John's Deck Stuff.But I would probley get in Big Trouble with the voc police. J

First off, thank you to all that have posted on this forum. I've learned alot just reading some of the postings but I wanted to ask the pros - so what is the best thing to use on an ipe deck, to restore the original color. Just a little background, I have an ipe deck (multi-level, 800 square feet) that was installed 2 years ago. Paid some painter an insane amount of money to paint, stain, and treat the deck - paint b/c I used cedar for the railing spindles and deck wrap - and it looked great... for about 3 months. Now the deck is grey, seems to be splintering (or whiskering) and I am about ready to do anything to get the deck back to its original color. Any suggesttions? Anyone know of a good deck contractor/painter to use (Long Island area). Any advice, help is much appreciated. Thanks!

do you literally mean paint, like the kind you use on a house? As in latex? As in, you cannot see any grain and now its peeling? Or do you mean the rails are painted and the deck is stained? I hope it's the latter because we can get you going in the right direction.

the railing spindels are painted white, with the railing caps(is that the correct terminology?)stained ipe. The deck is wrapped in cedar, that has been stained and I also have a pergola-type structure built over a sunken hot tub that has 4 painted posts (white) with the rest bein stained cedar. I would really appreciate any advice as I spent a pretty penny on this deck and i'm not at all happy with the appearance - though the deck is beautiful. I just want to get it back to its original color, as that is the reason I went with the ipe in the first place.

If you can, send me some pictures to customerservice@restore-a-deck.com and I will try tom get you pointed in the right direction. If you want to remove the paint you are in for a treat.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/199271721/1200071856051912003JofmJD
Here's a link (may have to cut and paste onto the web address space - not very techie here!) of my deck, shortly after it was treated, painted, stained the first time. Don't have a picture of the present condition, but I can get that if need be. I don't care so much about removing the white paint (that's held up all right in most places and I figure it can just be repainted) my first concern is getting my ipe decking and handrails back to this state/color.

Very sharp! A little dark for my taste but the deck is a beauty. I happen to like two toning. If the deck is now grey, the product has completely worn off. The Restore-A_deck kits I sell are formulated to solve your problem. You would go full strength with a maximum dwell tiem. I would shoot for thirty minutes keeping it wet with cleaner. The gray and any remanants of the old sealer will come off (I suggest using a pressure washer to speed the process) After you apply the brightener and let it dry it will look like it did when first built. Then you can apply anything you'd like.

Pressure washer? I was told not to use a pressure washer on my IPE deck. Something to do with damaging the wood grain.

pressure washers don't damage wood, it's all in the technique. Read the link below

Here is a link that might be useful: More about Pressure washing

Thanks pressurepros! I guess I will be placing an order shortly for the Restore-a-Deck and the TWP (500 or 100 series?). Would you (or anyone out there) know of a reputable painter/contractor that could do this for me? I wish I had the time (and patience) to do this myself but I'd rather pay to get it done right as opposed to driving myself crazy. Thanks!