Black alum balusters, good place to get them>>www.deckrailsolutions.comBoth ipe and tigerwood are good choices. John

I just purchased a new home (3yrs old). High quality construction all around but I am baffled at what is happening with the Mahogany front porch (covered). Deck appears to have been stained and finished but finish and stain have worn off at the edges (turning gray) and the finish (can't tell what it is) seems cloudy and a little streaky... almost like the decking is covered in pollen or something (but it doesn't wash off). Not sure what is happening but pretty sure I need to refinish it (if nothing else, for appearances). But I don't know what to do? Sand it down? Restain? Put on another kind of finish over the stain? Help... have never had Mahogany deck so don't know how to care for it.

If the current slab is at least 3000 PSI concrete you will never generate that force on that deck even with dynamic forces. If your posts are 6X6 then the weight that slab should be able to bear on one post is about 81,000 pounds dead weight. Of course you will only have about 15,000 pounds maximum distributed over 8 posts. I wouldn't tie the deck to the house though if you are in a freeze thaw climate. The slab will raise and lower during freeze thaws. This might damage the siding or facade. If the concrete has large voids underneath it then the load it can carry will greatly decrease, and may not be able to hold the deck without cracking. If there is wiremesh in the slab or rebar the flexural strength will be enough to span a small void. Either way the crack wont open up if mesh is properly installed.

Yes, I agree with the last 2 posts-JonMon and Mark. You WILL have to strip whatever is on your deck currently. My goal in life is to work with wood products that don't have to ever be stripped. We are still stripping the exterior of our clapboard house that has 130 years of peeling paint build up. That is how we came to learn about Allback Paint. Linseed paint has been used for hundreds of years. If you ever tour Mt Vernon, President George Washington used it. However, the new products are greatly improved by purification process. Linseed products protects and nourishes the wood and leaves it breathable so there is never trapped moisture and a plastic coat to peel. The draw back is the slower dry time. There are no chemical accelerators. This fact makes the product "GREEN" for the environment. Hot dry days are a perfect time for painting Boiled Linseed. To find out more about Purified Boiled Linseed try the link posted or call Soren or Collete at Viking Sales. They have been most helpful to me. Be sure to ask them if your climate will allow the Boiled Linseed products to cure properly. I live in the mid-central states. We had 30 days of 100 degree weather this year. I am still researching Floor Shield USA and Lifeline Endure at 1-800-548-3554. If I cannot find a longer lasting product that doesn't need stripping to re-coat than the AllBack products, I will definitely be using the Linseed Varnish mentioned in the link. Strip a deck once and you're desperate to never do it again. Here is a link that might be useful: Silent Paint Remover and Allback Paint