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lmgch

New Ipe Porch with Woodrich wiping stain - how bad is this?

lmgch
10 years ago

we had our wrap around covered porch reconstructed with Ipe flooring. after debating about finishing products, we opted for the Woodrich wiping stain. the contractor came yesterday with guys and they sanded and then applied the stain.

as of yesterday evening it looked shiny in some spots, dry in others. but i wasn't too concerned since it was still only a few hours post application.

however, it still looked this way this morning. i went and touched a shiny spot and came up with a hand full of stain.

so i'm now freaking out.

it feels tacky all over. blatantly wet in other places.

the weather has been picture perfect since Wed - not too hot. not cold. dry and sunny.

is this fixable? if so, how?

the contractor is here now and says it will be fine if they just rub it all down. and he said, "once the sun hits it, we'll be fine." but the sun never hits all of it - it's a covered porch and we never get full exposure.

would greatly appreciate any feedback

Comments (2)

  • millworkman
    10 years ago

    Pictures may help.

  • aidan_m
    10 years ago

    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