If its just spots you can use a stripper like Bix. It contains methylene chloride (potent). It might cause some disoloration of the wood which should be temporary. You porbably shopuld have done this before you cleaned and balanced.

Your other alternative is to sand. There is not really anything worng with sanding you will just have to sand the entire length of the board. Its spot sanding that is bad.

I just had a customer of mine with the same combination of cedar and ipe and he used Bakers Gray Away on both and was tickled with the results. If you'd like I can put you in touch with him.
The ipe can wait another year, the cedar I would start worying about. Get that sealed before winter.

Thank you pressurepros! Whew! If we don't have to do the Ipe until spring, should we wait on the Bix until then and clean and balance afterward?

There's probably info on Bakers Gray Away on this forum. I've been away for a while so will research before I bug you with questions.

We'll get to the cedar this year. Unfortunately its raining off and on next week. ATO says it takes 24 hours to dry. Do you need more time without rain? If we do it early in the morning should the next day's morning dew be a problem?

Any advice on how to keep the ATO off the Ipe deck? I assume we'll have to tape plastic under all the spindles - sounds like a mess.

Thanks again - its so good to hear from you.

Do NOT use ATO on cedar unless you want black rails. ATO does not react well with the higher tannin content in cedar. I made the mistake one time using it on cedar rails and was not happy that the rails looked hideous in thre months. If you call Cabot's I fairly certain they will tell you the same thing.

I would wait until spring to do the ipe (cleaning/sanding whichever route you choose). When you are applying the sealer to the rails lay a sheet (available at Walmart for $3.. get a few of them) underneath the rails to catch drips.

Thanks again pressurepros - what do you recommend for the Cedar? It's cleaned already, so I guess we don't want the Bakers. We're looking for more of a yellow-brownish color rather than a red.

TWP makes a nice honey tone. It will give you the tone you are looking for.

I called a number of paint stores around here and none of them carry (or heard of) TWP.

They all recommended ATO or paint for the cedar rails.

Pressurepros - I looked back on an old post from last year and saw that you did recommend ATO for both the cedar rails and Ipe deck. That was when I did all my research. Did you have your bad experience with ATO in the past year?
I'm also seeing info on the reformulation of ATO. Was that the problem? My ATO is from last year. How can I tell if it's reformulated?

It's dry today and I'm noticing that parts of the rails, etc. still look gray. If all the gray is not taken off and I put sealer on it this year, will I have to have it all stripped off next year?

Ideally I'd just like to put something on the cedar this year to preserve it and then next year use Bakers or your new product Pressurepros on the Cedar and Ipe. I don't want to have to through a lot having to take whatever I use this year off.

TWP is/was a smaller company that put out contractor grade sealers. They never really advertised to homeowners. Word of mouth spread and their products are well known to anyone that works with premium products.

I did recommend the ATO and since reformulation last year they have removed too many of the expensive ingredients that made it a decent product. Its never ben a wonderful product to put on cedar. Cedar and redwood you have to be careful. Not all products will work well or look good on those species.

I still say Baker's is your best bet. If you decided to strip it R-A-D would take it off but the Baker's finishes are the most beautiful out there that is why I worked to become a distributor.

Below is a picture of Baker's Gray Away mixed 2 gallons of Super Cedar Gold and 1 Super Cedar brown. Is this the tone you are looking for?

That's a great color. Does it come mixed or do we have to get 3 gallons? Don't think we'll need that much for just rails and spindles. Does it get rid of the remaining gray also or would we have to strip with R-A-D first? We're really just looking to protect the wood until next year. Is it hard to use? So many questions - sorry. One more - can we get it quickly?

Dammm nice project Ken,,I cant belive they did the decking in Pt,,,but a person cant talk back to a win circle.J

Thats a custom color and has to be blended. The BGA cedar gold straight on a cedar gives an orangey tone so mixing in the brown tones things down a bit. When you first apply the color it will be a bit darker and takes about a week to really settle in and become similar to what you see above. The RAD cleaning kit would remove your grayed wood.

A note on the shipping. We get things out as quikly as they coome in but.. We have gotten a better than expected response for such late season and though we restock quickly, there may be a 2-3 day delay in shipping to refill depleted inventory. In addition we have been having some issues with FedEx. I don't want to disparage the company or their shipping methods but we are not pleased with their track record thus far.

John, LOL. You're right there.

When I hear of someone using cedar for railing, I feel I must tell them of my experience.18 years ago the popular belief( at least at my lumberyard) was that cedar was low maintainence and lasts forever. So I sided, trimmed, railed and decked w/ cedar( white cedarsiding, red cedar everywhere else). It was beautiful afterward. We stained w/cabots, used sikins on the deck. After 5 years we noticed, especially the deck and rail, that everywhere cedar touched cedar( the butt joint at the post/ rail and post /deck) it was getting soft. We hadn't sealed the end grain before installation nor did we caulk each joint. By year 12 the railings fell off and the posts and decking boards rotted along each edge ( we didn't space the deck boards enough, thinking they would shrink- they might have even expanded). A word to the wise, wait until a stretch of dry weather and silicone caulk those joints. Fine Homebuilding Magazine recognized this problem and published an article a few years after we built and after the damage was done. They recommended geotextiles layered between built up trim and cutting chamfer grouves at the butt joints for the caulk to adhere better- esentially a miniture pitch pocket for the caulk. Good luck w/ the cedar.

You bring up a good point crabman. Today's cedar is not good for outdoor use. It is way too soft and venerable to quick moisture driven rot.

I wonder if this happens where Cedar touches Ipe.

Here is a terrible analogy but it is the only one I can think of right now. Take 2 wet dish rags. One you hang so that no area of the rag is touching another surface. The other you lay on top of say, a countertop. Which would dry more quickly?

The area where two permeable materials meet will have a tendency to stay wet for a longer period of time. This is what causes rot in cedar.

Don't panic. Get a quality penetrating oil into the wood and be sure to heavily treat exposed ends and between boards as much as you can and you won't have any problems.

I'm a little concerned after reading the recent comments on cedar joints. My new front porch has cedar rails, and I just finished painting the balusters (1 coat alkyd primer, 2 coats latex paint) and staining the top of the railing (2 coats Sikkens Log & Siding). I chose this to help the porch railings stand out more (it looks great).

I had to be quite careful at the top of the baluster as it transitioned into the stain, to try and make it look right. However, there is a very small part of the top which is untreated on each baluster. Should I calk this with a standard silicone/acrylic caulk to be safe? Also, should I take the time to caulk the bottom joint also (ie the bottom of the baluster where it meets the bottom rail).

Pressurepros- is the material in the above pic you sent PT with cedar railings?

I am now just about sick after reading this, I have an entire deck made of cedar on the recommendation of my builder. The supports underneath are pressure treated. I was here looking for the best sealer, but now I am worried about the whole thing. What would be the recommendations for my situation?

We have a cedar deck and cedar rails. The previous owners at one point may have used Thompsons Water Sealant on it because the Cabot stain my husband applied a few years ago did not stick. He is outside trying to stip the remaining bits and pieces of the Cabots and we are trying to come up with something that will do the job best. The deck is under a very large white oak tree, so part is shaded, part is sunny. The hardware store suggests CWF-UV, but I read that that requires a total of 5 dry days (2-3 before and 2 after application). Those ideal condtions are alot to ask regarding a weekend project.

Has anyone heard of WoodRx? I found it online and sounds great, but I know nothing about it.

The hardware store man also felt that the Thompson's has probably worn away (7 plus years) and that we could use whatever we want now.

Has anyone tried the Cabot Australian Wax?

We are in the Chicago area with hot summers and cold winters.

The Baker's Gray Away system sounds nice, what about dry weather before and after application?
Any thoughts here? We are clueless. Thanks for your ideas.

Greetings!
This post has me concerned also. We just installed an IPE deck with cedar fencing. i posted a picture in another post (IPE with Woodzotic). based on research, we planned to use Ready Seal Deck Sealer, color = Natural Cedar on the fence, and woodzotic on the deck. Has anyone tried the ReadySeal? It appeared to be the best for cedar.
Thanx for the help!
Mary

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