New IPE Deck staining help

I also have stair fascia that is made of clear Cedar with rough side visible. When should I stain the stair fascia?

I would like to match the color of clear cedar fascia with the stair steps which are IPE. Is there a recommended stain for this? Or would it work to use the same oil stain that I'll use for the IPE on the clear cedar fascia?

Spot sand straps and marks now. Leave alone and prep with a deck cleaner in the Spring then stain. The prep and color will even out after the Winter. You can brighten as well. The AC would be a good choice for the IPE.

Do the Cedar next Spring as well. Not possible to match the Cedar to IPE wood. It just will not stain the same due to natural color tones of the IPE.

Now the weather is nicer I was able to prep for staining the deck, then i notice these hair line cracks near on the end of ipe boards for my stairs. It has been about 3 months and mostly been raining and wet, is it normal to see these cracks on ipe?

I have a suspicion that the builder didn't wax seal the end cuts, when i touched the sides where cracks are, it felt very rough and dry wood. Any solution to this?

Cracks are normal on all exterior wood. To minimize this you can use a product like IPE Oil End Seal. The one large crack on the step does look excessive though.

BTW, it is not the deck builders job to seal the ends of the cuts unless he specifically said he would.

I asked the builder yesterday and he said he does seal end grains after cutting. Does the sealant wear off over 3 months? When I touched the end grain it was rough dry wood surface, no evidence of wax sealant or darken stain look.

I went and gotten some AnchorSeal and sealed some of end grains. Now I am wondering should I apply some Armstrong Clark hardwood oil on the end grains to help rejuvenate the cracks before sealing the rest?

I am ready to clean the deck now. Is the Restore a Deck kit still the best to prep before staining? Would I need a pressure washer for cleaning or brush will work with Restore a Deck kit?

I am just feeling sad to see a beautiful ipe wood deck to start showing aging spots in 3 months.Thank you very much for your response and everything you do here!

Prepping with the RAD kits is the best way. Pressure washing while doing this will make it easier. No need to just stain the end grain. Stain all the wood when done with the prepping, including the end grain.

Would I need to use the brightener since my IPE deck is only about 5 months old?

I spoke with a representative from Armstrong Clark and he mentioned that brightener from the RAD kit on new IPE deck would make the IPE look Orange with the AC Mahogany stain. Administrator, have you encountered or heard of this?

I don't have a pressure washer, would it be alright to use a scrub brush and no pressure washer for cleaning with RAD kit?

What is your recommendation on staining IPE handrail tops and grooves between deck floor boards? I heard cleaning up stain brushes used with oil stains can lot work so I was thinking to use a one time use inexpensive brush like this from home depot:

Should I spend the extra 15$ for one well known brand all natural white china bristle stain brush like this one?

Never heard of a brightener making the stain orange but you do not have to use a brightener on IPE wood. We like Wooster stain brushes. Do not like chip brushes.

I finally got the deck stained with Armstrong Clark Mahogany stain after cleaning with scrub brush and RAD cleaner, no brightener. It was dried for two days before I stained it satuday. It had about 24hours of dry weather with partial clouds from saturday 9pm to sunday 9pm, then it rained sunday night to monday. I am noticing some part of the deck is showing lighter spots, it sort of look like it is yellow rather than red/mahogany color.

Did the rain wash the stain away or did I not put enough stain? Should I touch up these areas with more stain to see if it will get darker and even out? Or should I just accept it as character of the deck?

Here is picture:

It is not easy to spot treat. Definetly looks like the stain did not take there before the rain. Did the spots show up only after the rain?

The folks at armstrong clark said after 12hours it can take rain. I talked to my wife and she reminded me that we made remarks about some brighter areas as if we skimmed on the stain.

What do you recommend that I do at this point? Should I re-apply a very light layer of stain on the boards showing severe bright marks? Would it be alright to leave the deck as is and wait until next spring to retain the entire deck or would I need to retain this fall so those lighter spots don't become permanently gray?

Adding more could create more issues then it is worth. May not dry, sticky, etc. Leave it alone for 6-12 months, lightly clean and apply one light coat.

Turns out that I have wood fuzz on my deck surfaces after the cleaner and those brighter marks are due to stain drying on fuzz pigments. Since I've already stained the deck would it work if I use the floor buffing machine and a buff pad on the deck now?

I have aluminum posts and railings that I am afraid of the floor buffer machine can't reach the portion of boards the posts are secured onto, can I use the palm sander with 80 grit on floor boards where floor buffer can't reach? Will it be noticeably different where I used floor buffer machine with buffing pads vs palm sander with sand paper on the same floor board? Or should I use a hand held buffing tool?

I'm planning on using these machines when time is right, what do you think?
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3M 4100 Series White Super Polish Pad for buffing machine from amazon.com:

Black & Decker palm sander from amazon.com:

You cannot buff a newly applied stain. It will "gum" up the pads. You would have to strip the deck first of the stain, buff all, then restain. Your tools are good for this.