Cabot's Australian TImber Oil on Mahogany Deck Color Build Up

[jk]

Long winded subject but anyway. I have been using Cabot's ATO on my Mahogany deck for around 4 years now. Reapply every year per instructions on can. So far so good. Water beads up nicely and squeegies off like glass. Issue I have now is the color. I have been using the "Mahogany Flame" color since day one. When I first used it, the grain on the wood planks was much more visible. Now the wood is very dark, almost black. Little if any grain visible. I assume this is due to a build up of the pigments in the stain and/or oxidation. I would like to bring back the origional appearance, lighten it up. Short of sanding the deck completely is there anything else I can do? I have thought about using the clear ATO instead of the flame and perhaps hand rubbing the old stuff off with a solvent or maybe the clear ATO itself will act as a solvent and remove the old stuff. I cleaned the deck this past weekend with a mild detergent/ bleach solution, no change whatsoever. Your comments and advice would be appreciated. Thanks. john

[Jim Northey]

Before you go to the trouble of stripping it you may want to borrow or rent a high pressure washer. It may just be ground in dirt and the washer may bring back some of the grain. Look for the one with the most PSI . Jim

[roemax]

do your self a favor and don't blast the hell out of your wood with a pressure washer that's just bad advice talk to the supplier that sold you the Cabot product before you destroy your wood they might be able to give you some good well thought out advice

[Jim Northey]

[Ray Mandeville]

I had a very similar issue. I used the pressure washer route on my mahogany deck with very good success. I kept the pressure to a minimum and use light passes to try to avoid removing too much of the "color".

After letting the deck dry I reapplied the oil as usual.

roemax wrote:

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Depends on the operator. I fine jet will make grooves in the wood. It will tear up the fibers. While it won't destroy it completely, it can look like crap if done wrong.

[Jim Northey]

Yes on that I agree. But one would hope that the operator would test first on a small area before blindly pushing on without checking. At least I would. But then when I think of most of the people I work with I've got to wonder. I don't have a T shirt saying ( Just when I thought people can't get any stupider.... I'm proven horribly wrong) for nothing . (-; Jim

[jk]

[Jim Northey]

Thanks. Should be interesting to see what they say about the washer, seeing as most of the people I know with one use it for that plus siding and fences. As Ed stated in his post about grooves I can see that happening but would think the operator would notice and change his technique ....or at least sit down with a few beers and think, cool a no slip surface :-) Well that would be my answer for it and I'd stick to it. Jim