Ipe Wood Deck Cleaning and Finishing – Photo Journey

Ipe Cleaning Overview:

The customer had a Multi-Level 1000 square foot deck with 170 linear feet of railings, custom seating, and three sets of stairs. The deck needed a good cleaning and deck finishing brings out the original colors and protects it.
The total time for 4 men was 4 hours. Approximately 1 1/2 hour for cleaning and 2 1/2 hour to apply the deck finisher
DeckWise Ipe Oil, Penofin Messmers or other products work similarly.
Note: It is the responsibility of you the owner or installer to adequately test pressure washing, cleaning or finishing for product suitability and application method for your particular installation. The above are techniques that have worked for others in the past and we want to share information that we hear for the benefit of others. However, you need to test and ensure that any of these ideas will work in your specific application.

Tools Needed for cleaning Ipe Wood Decking ( verify below)

– DeckWise cleaner with Oxalic Acid – this is a standard deck cleaner and other products will work similarly. Be aware, there are new products on the market that do not use Oxalic acid.  We have not tested these but assume they are effective.
Garden sprayer to apply the cleaner – we used a backback sprayer but a hand held also works fine.
– A Hose with plenty of water. Nozzle with full flow to misting is very helpful.

–Ipe Oil Finish (1 gallon per 200 square feet)
– Stiff broom – do not use metal bristles(look in the broom section of your big box store, not the paint brush aisle.)
– rags
– 5-gallon bucket

Note: We picked a day that was overcast so the sun did not dry out the decking too quickly.

Preparation

Safety: Before you start cleaning you want to check your deck

  • Walk around checking your joists and footers
  • look for errant screws
  • check for anything that would compromise safety – balusters, handrails, and so forth.

Sanding

  • Sand handrails if needed
  • Sand scratches or blemishes on the decking  
  • Photo shows how we sanded the decking where a grill had been placed

Cleaning

  • With plain water, thoroughly wet the surface and surrounding vegetation to remove dirt and avoid streaking.
  • Apply Oxalic Cleaner Deck Cleaner (Deckwise or similar) to the wet surface with a garden sprayer or hand sprayer.
  • Allow to set for 30 minutes.  (keep it wet so that it is working)
  • Always keep the deck wet while you are working on it – preferably with more solution but water works in a pinch
  • Scrub all dirty areas with a stiff bristle brush and do a light scrub over the entire deck.  Do not forget the handrails. (do not use metal bristles)
  • Rinse off the solution with a garden hose and allow to dry thoroughly before ® deck finisher.  
  • Photo shows deck scrubbing while we are keeping the deck wet

Allow to dry

Before you can apply the deck finisher the deck must be dry. The overcast day which helped us until now slowed down the drying. One of our team just did not want to wait and used rags to speed up the process
Photo: we wanted to hurry the process by wiping down the deck
Usually you need to wait 24 hours before continuing with the Finisher. Check the directions.

Cleaned deck ready for Finisher

Apply finisher per directions

We used Ipe Oil Finisher.   We “boxed” several gallons into a 5-gallon bucket.  Then used our broom to apply the finisher.  Only one coat.  If you attempt a second coat you will have a mess.  Just apply the finisher to the Brazilian decking so it has a nice coat.  If you have too much, like it puddles, then brush the finisher onto the next board.

We do not use rollers as they do not get in between the gaps.   You will have to use a paint brush and it actually takes longer.

Summery

  • With plain water, thoroughly wet the surface and surrounding vegetation to remove dirt and avoid streaking.
  • Apply Cleaner to the wet surface with a garden sprayer or hand sprayer.
  • Allow to set for 30 minutes.  (keep it wet)
  • Always keep the deck wet while you are working on it – preferably with more solution but water works in a pinch
  • Scrub all dirty areas with a stiff bristle brush and do a light scrub over the entire deck.  Do not forget the handrails. (do not use metal bristles)
  • Rinse off the solution with a garden hose and allow to dry thoroughly before treating with deck finisher.  
  • Apply finisher
  • Photo shows deck after completion

If you need more help, CALL ABS Wood. https://abswood.com/how-to-order/