Ipe is typically not stained - it is oiled. The best comparison is teak which behaves quite similarly. Ipe is a very beautiful reddish color when fresh. It will stay fresh with annual oiling. If this is not done, then it will gray. The gray is still acceptable if a bit rustic. So technically no maintenance is required - just know that it will not look the same as new. If you want that new appearance, then annual oilings are required. You can always sand and restore the appearance of the wood if you haven't oiled - to a point. I think most anyone who is obsessed enough with building to do the research and pick and pay for ipe will likely do the oiling. This is especially true on the front porch. It does smell for a few days to 2 weeks for the truly sensitive after oiling.

Drift on over to www.woodrich-brand.com They sell the stripper/oxalic wash you will need. J.

They did not wipe it correctly. The way it works is to flood it on heavy, allow it to absorb into the wood for several minutes, then wipe OFF any excess. This is the universal method for applying any type of penetrating oil, or long oil finish. Long oil is a finish that does not cure to become a hard film. Some penetrating oil finishes have resins added, and they slowly polymerize to become hard. Others are purely long oil, and never really "dry" The right way to apply oil finish to a deck is to go around doing 3 boards at a time. You can reach over 3 boards easily, while still standing on the unfinished part of the deck. Flood it on 3 boards wide, across the whole deck. When you get to the end, go back to where you start. By now, the oil has absorbed into the wood. I usually go over it again with a wet brush, to pull the wet spots onto the dry spots, in case the dry spots want to absorb more finish. Then the next pass, a few minutes later, wipe it dry with a clean rag. Then move on to the next 3 boards; repeat the process. Your contractor did not follow this method, nor did he wipe it off after it had absorbed. When they wipe it off a day later, it will probably have some gummy spots. Those need to be scrubbed away with turpentine, then the whole deck needs to be redone, correctly, with another coat of the wiping oil. The right way takes much more time, but how much time is your contractor going to spend fixing this? I hope he uses this as a learning experience. If this is the normal way they finish decks, insist that you are not satisfied, and make them do another coat the right way. At least give you some money back for additional gallons of product, turpentine, rags, and a few hundred cash for the labor. If all else fails, call woodrich directly. They are a very good company, a small business, and they know their products. They'll tell your contractor what's up. Here is a link that might be useful: woodrich product support

YEP....100-grit is barely gonna touch hard stuff like IPE! Even on softer woods like Redwood (MY deck!), all that 100-grit does is POLISH the wood....which LESSENS the amount of stain that can absorb! For IPE, 80-grit max...preferably 60-grit. Water-marks...almost impossible to avoid entirely! To some degree, they just have to be lived with. This IS wood outside ya know! No matter HOW good the prep and stain, decks and stains WEAR, and sometimes not the way we'd like-'em to! Faron