Okay, the saga continues, but this is where the opportunity gets to be fun.
I've posted a few pictures of the house in question, link below. They show not only the doors and beams that I've been referring to, but also the scale of the place. The client has put the beams on hold for now, waiting to see what I can do to the garage doors.
The underlying wood is mahogany. The wood was stained with a BenMoore oil-based penetrating stain which had walnut along with red and black. This stain has failed due to lack of maintenance. So far, all attempts to remove the stain with chemicals have failed. Not only that, but removing the stain via chemical is bound to cause issues... the house drains to a waterway. I was only able to get down to the wood by planing and sanding. (I have sample pieces in my shop.) The stuff underneath is beautiful... sheesh.
Considering how much manpower and noxious chemicals would be taken up in trying to remove the stain, sand, and start anew, I'm thinking of proposing that the client replace the garage doors, with me doing the finish on them. (Currently my favorite choice is the CPES and Epifanes mentioned earlier in the thread.) Overall, this would be a lot less time and effort.
Question is: If you could replace the garage doors with any readily available wood, what would you choose? Take a look at the pictures and see what you think would look best relative to the stonework on the house, as well as the beams staying dark as they are. I've got one species in mind, but would love to hear your opinions...
------------------------------------------ Got a refinery someplace within reasonable distance you can call?
Refineries have lots of tanks that need to be cleaned on a regular basis.
This work is done by outside contractors.
In the past, they have used both sand blasting and/or pressurized water.
Clean up is a problem for either sand or water; however, all is not lost.
Enter dry ice.
Today a lot of tanks are cleaned using dry ice pellets under pressure much the same way sand is used.
The pellets hit the tank wall and their low temperature helps fracture the crud thus helping to break it loose.
The other big advantage is that no sand or water contaminates the tank.
When the pellets warm up, they simply turn to gaseous CO2.
Might be worth checking out.
Lew