Best Deck Oil Finish for Ipe and other Brazilian Decking
The finale to a beautiful Ipe or other Brazilian deck is the finish . . . hence the name. Good deck oil brings out the natural beauty of Ipe and Brazilian decking and helps protect against UV rays thereby preserving the natural color. Some premium deck oils are tinted red or brown to enhance the natural color. Deck oils formulated for cedar, cypress and pine do not provide the same finish on Brazilian decking. Since Brazilian decking is so dense, you must use deck oil that penetrates the wood well. Messmers, Cabot, and Penofin are good deck oils however, in our independent testing we have experienced superior results and greatly increased longevity with deck oil manufactured by Flood Company. Flood premium deck oil is water borne and contains emulsified oil and acrylic. It penetrates the decking better than any other product and leaves a natural finish, which lasts at least four times longer than any other product.
Better Color Preservation
Ten weeks before this photo was taken, the boards were oiled with Penofin (the best of the comparable deck oils) on the left side, one coat of Flood oil in the middle and two coats of Flood oil on the right side. The Flood oil protected the wood so well that it prevented the natural darkening in sunlight that occurs on jatoba, tatajuba, tigerwood, garapa and cumaru boards. If these darker colors are desired, you must allow for the colors to change before applying this oil. Otherwise, you won’t see the color change until the deck oil begins to wear off. We recommend red or brown oils for some species so that the wood’s natural color displays more quickly.
Deck Oil Color Choices
We oiled all of these boards with two coats of Flood deck oil. Red oil was applied on the left sections, natural in the middle and brown on the right. The red oil brought out the natural red color in Cumaru, Jatoba and Tigerwood while appearing orange when applied to the freshly milled golden color of tatajuba and garapa. Both of these woods oxidize to dark brown and honey brown respectively but this transformation would be delayed because of the protective seal that Flood oil provides. The brown oil looked good on Garapa, Tatajuba, Sucupira and Ipe’. Notice that we’ve displayed a 2nd Tatajuba board on the bottom that was oiled immediately without allowing time for the board to oxidize in the sun and turn brown. After installing your deck, you can wait to oil your deck after the preferred color change occurs. Jatoba, Tigerwood and Cumaru become darker red while Tatajuba and Garapa brown.
Deck Finish Preparation
ON NEW DECKS where there has not been any finish previously applied, Flood Company’s stripper should be applied to open up the pores. It is easy to mix this stripper with water, spray, soak 20 minutes, agitate, rinse off, allow deck to dry over night and apply TWO COATS of Flood deck oil. The 2nd coat must be applied within 4 hours of the first coat. The temperature must be above 50 degrees.
On decks that have been previously finished with a finish other than Flood, you must first use the stripper to remove the old finish, use Flood Cleaner Brightener to remove the stripper / finish residue and then oil deck (two coats) after allowing deck to dry over night.
On decks that have been previously finished with Flood deck oil, it is best to mix and spray on Flood Cleaner Brightener, soak for 20 minutes, agitate and rinse clean. Allow deck to dry over night and finish with two coats of Flood deck oil.
These 3 methods are all really only 2 steps because the stripping and cleaning can be done right after each other and both chores are more spraying than scrubbing. So, the process is not cumbersome. Considering that the extra step provides a finish which lasts at least FOUR TIMES LONGER than any other finish, it is certainly worth the trouble to perform the extra step.
