Penofin/Woodrich Hardwood Stain on Ipe: pics/comments durability?

15 years ago

I'm trying to figure out what penetrating stain to use on a new Ipe porch and stairs/railings I'm about to install.

When I'm doing searches I'm finding a lot of old posts from 2007 including posts of WoodZotic which sounded great until I discovered they're out of business so I'm looking for some recent user feedback on available products.

I'm thinking Penofin Hardwood Formula or Woodrich Hardwood wiping stain. Can anyone post pics of Ipe decks/porches/stairs they've applied these stains to and also comment on durability (including if they're exposed to sun/rain/etc.).

My porch area is open on front but will mostly be protected from sun/rain/snow. Stairs/rails will get partial sun and are fully exposed to rain/sun/snow. Mold/mildew is a problem here in the Pacific Northwest where I live so I ruled out Messmers since it doesn't appear to offer protection for mold/mildew.

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Comments (12)

Wayne Reibold
Original Author
15 years ago
I just found out Messmers makes a UV Plus product that has an ingredient to protect against mildew/mold so I'm curious anyone's experiences with that new product as well, pics, how well it lasts...
john_hyatt
15 years ago
As it turned out woodzotic was just relabaling an existing product. Drift on over to www.woodrich-brand.com.

Most all the projects on my site were finish with TWP 100 series. J.
Wayne Reibold
Original Author
15 years ago
John: which TWP 100 is used in the pics on your site? The color looks really red, could just be pictures, but was curious which color of TWP 100 has been used on most of those pics.

Everyone else: still looking for opinions of:

(1) Penofin Hardwood Formula
(2) Woodrich Hardwood Wiping Stain
(3) Messmers UV Plus (with mildew/mold protection)

regarding how long it lasts (and what lighting/rain/snow conditions) and any pics you have

Thanks!
john_hyatt
15 years ago
Mostley the rustic 116. Latley I have been mixing cedar tone natural/dark oak 3 to 2 for a more brown look.Most Folks like the 116. J.
riles_j
15 years ago
John,

Have you ever tried the Honeytone on Ipe. I just got a few samples of Rustic, Cedartone and Honeytone (those were the only TWP samples they had) and tried them on some samples of Ipe. I almost didn't even try the Honeytone because the color chart shows a color quite a bit different from what I am looking for. Well I was quite surprised that it turned out similar to the Rustic, only not quite as red. Not what I expected and I am questioning my sample. Have you tried the Honeytone?

riles
john_hyatt
15 years ago
HT and cedartone nat are very close. Remember the lighter the color the less uv protection. J.
Wayne Reibold
Original Author
15 years ago
Anyone have feedback on using Penofin Hardwood Formula or Woodrich Hardwood wiping stain?
energos_aol_com
12 years ago
I will let you know in a couple of months. Iam about to test both on a western red cedar fence.
everyrose
12 years ago
I'm in the process of stripping Penofin from my cedar deck. Not the same thing as Penofin for hardwood but this may help. Deck in PNW. Penofin applied 5 years ago. Zero maintainance. The deck started looking pretty bad after 4 years but last summer I didn't have time to refinish it. Now in year 5, it looks real bad--dark gray and mildewed. I thought there was no finish left but it turns out the Penofin grayed and mildewed and there is quite a lot of finish left. Perhaps if it was washed once a year with a mildewicide it would be looking better. But lets be realistic, it had zero maintainance before, no reason to believe the deck fairys are going to come by and wash my deck for me. So I would say that with maitainence one could get 4 to 5 years in the PNW out of Penofin. When its time to refinish your deck, Penofin strips very easily with sodium hydroxide.
On the downside is the smell. Very bad on a hot sunny day. The deck was unusable for the rest of the summer after I refinished it! I could still detect faint wiffs of the odor the next summer a year after it was applied. For this reason, I will not be using Penofin again.
GWgal
12 years ago
I am a penofin user on my ipe deck.

Anyway, applying it was the easiest thing - with the railings I just wiped it on. The whole deck (500sf) took about an hour and a half. The most time consuming part of the whole project was moving the furniture off the deck and moving it back ;)

Overall I'm very happy with the color. You have to be careful as with any product to wipe off the excess since it doesn't soak into the boards as easily as other types of lumber.

Any questions about penofin let me know - i can probably dig up some pics if you like.
dooer
12 years ago
I've used both Penofin and Woodrich on ipe decks. Really not much to choose between them. They looked almost exactly the same.

Life expectancy is about 6mos. the first time, slowly lasting a little longer after each coat.

TWP is not available to us for enviromental reasons.
np0x
10 years ago
I have been looking around for different finishes, having used penofin on my ipe deck(8 years old) a number of times. I have always had trouble with penofin pealing off, the richwood penetrating oil goes into the wood and drys to a nice walkable finish very quickly.

From reading some of the comments I believe this is a combination of the good product as well as the age of my ipe(which is quite dry).

From using the sample packs, I have to say the variance on the colors (on ipe) is very subtle. The Western Cedar color has a very subtle red tone to it, that looks very nice on the rich brown of the ipe.