Hardwood Deck Stain Tips for Ipe  5/5 (8)

This post was updated on March 12, 2024

Best Hardwood Deck Stain Tips for Ipe

DeckStainHelp.com is the Internet’s go-to site for all things wood deck restoration related. Just like all different types of wood surfaces, we recommend you properly prep your IPE wood prior to staining with a penetrating exotic hardwood stain in 2024. Feel free to leave us a comment with pictures and any questions you may have below.


Maintaining an exotic hardwood such as Ipe requires a little more patience and the proper deck stain. The vital key to consider when choosing a lasting finish is the density of the wood. This determines how deep the stain will be able to penetrate.

Deck Staining Tips Hardwood Ipe

Messmers Hardwood Stain

Ipe decking is extremely dense and tough for a deck stain to penetrate. On newer Ipe wood a deck stain may only penetrate as little as a few millimeters. For this reason, any type of deck stain will only last about a year, so regular maintenance definitely comes into play.

Most deck stains are too low in resins and pigment solids to penetrate Ipe wood and wouldn’t last long or be very appealing. Special deck stains specifically designed for Ipe are necessary to get as much protection as possible. Ipe deck stains are designed to give a more lasting and maintainable finish. They are rich in oil alkyd resins that are more effective when dealing with limited penetration from dense wood.

Once the proper exotic hardwood deck stain is found, it’s best to use a stain pad to push the stain into the wood. After the stain sits on the wood for a few minutes it’s important to wipe away any excess stain that has gathered on the surface. Not doing so will result in a poor appearance and conditions that will cause the hardwood stain to fail before it should.

IPE and Hardwood Stain Pictures

Even with a quality hardwood Ipe deck stain, yearly maintenance is still necessary. That’s just the nature of the beast when dealing with an Ipe deck. Maintenance can be done by lightly washing the deck with a deck cleaner and allowing it to dry. A thin maintenance coat of the same Ipe deck stain can then be applied in the manner mentioned above.

Ipe wood makes for some of the most beautiful decks but they do require a little more maintenance than other types of wood decking. Using the proper hardwood deck stain will give you better lasting results.

Top IPE and Exotic Hardwood Stain Ratings

1. Restore-A-Deck Wood Stain
2. Armstrong Clark Wood Stain
3. TWP Natural Effect Hardwood Stain Review

The Best IPE Hardwood Deck Stain Video – DeckStainHelp.com


Please Rate This. You may also post comments or ask questions below.

author avatar
Scott Paul ~ Restoring Wood & Decks Since 1993
#As an article and comment contributor to the site, Scott has been around the pressure washing industry since attending college. In 1993 he started his first company called Oakland Pressure Wash specializing in exterior pressure washing and deck staining. That company evolved into OPW L.L.C. shortly thereafter concentrating more on exterior wood and deck restoration. Scott and his Deck Cleaning Michigan company have restored over 10,000 decks in the Metro Detroit area since the early years. He has become an authority in the deck restoration industry and has contributed to numerous wood restoration forums and informative sites. All the products he suggests through this site are sold through online sites and in retail stores, allowing the consumer to choose their own means of purchase. Scott’s eCommerce sites do sell many top brands he endorses and if you appreciate any of the help he has offered then feel free to purchase from one of them.

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Allan
Allan
1 year ago

Wow. This is an incredible resource. I am under construction of a new Ipe deck in San Francisco, CA. This is adjacent to an existing Ipe deck and two existing Ipe fences. The existing Ipe decks and fences were cleaned, sanded, and stained with Penofin in a natural color in 2016. Within 2-3 months the beautiful looking wood had reverted back to grey. So I have not touched it since. This week I have had two contractors look at both the new and existing Ipe here and one is suggesting Cabot’s and one is suggesting Messmers for the refinishing. Both want to clean and sand the old Ipe, one says the new Ipe does not need to be sanded. From what I am reading here, I should let the new deck age for at least three months before touching it at all. I am going to do that. I was thinking that maybe I will just use the cleaner and brighter on the existing Ipe, for now.

Questions:

Is it OK to clean and brighten the existing Ipe, and nothing else?

The contractor that is building the deck is about to seal all the cut edges with a wax solution to prevent future cracking. Is this advisable? It looks like this was also done at the factory on the new boards that were delivered, but in a kind of sloppy way and the wax solution has seeped into the end grain and is visible on the face of the boards; and is dark. Should I let him seal the cut ends?

Also, if I clean the existing Ipe, one of my decks is suspended over the new deck. Will the cleaner and brighter damage or change the new Ipe deck below if it drips through the cracks of the old deck located above it?

Since we get rain here in the winter, and it is already late August, is it OK to let the new wood sit without any treatment for longer than three months; say until next spring?

Many thanks for all of the great information here.

Allan
Allan
1 year ago

Thank you for this feedback Scott. Much appreciated. I am going to take a chance and not seal the cut ends. It can end up looking blotchy on the face of the boards, and yes, will not hold the oil/stain later; both as you noted.

Last edited 1 year ago by Allan
Randy
Randy
2 years ago

A contractor had used the wrong stain on my new Ipe deck so I got advice from this excellent forum about how to deal with it. I had the contractor use RAD’s products and follow the recommendations from this forum. Since they botched it the first time, I told them to do one section before stripping the entire deck. They cleaned, then stripped with the RAD stripper and additives, then brightened with RAD’s brightener and washed off the brightener per the instructions. The wood now looks extremely light and I am concerned that when we re-stain after a few months we will not have that rich Ipe color. Below are before and after photos of the section they stripped and brightened. Should we be concerned?

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Randy
Randy
2 years ago

Help! I had three Ipe decks installed a mere three weeks ago and they’re already riddled with water stains and spots after our first rain. The contractor used Cabot “Wood Toned Deck and Siding Stain.” Cabot lists this for use on cedar, fir, pine, cypress, redwood, spruce and plywood. Looks to me like they used the wrong stain. Can it be stripped and, if so, what products and process do you recommend?

Randy
Randy
2 years ago

Here is a photo. I sure hope they don’t have to replace all of the wood.

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Randy
Randy
2 years ago

Thank you!

Randy
Randy
2 years ago
Reply to  Randy

Sorry but one other question: This is in San Francisco, so we don’t really have spring per se. (Nor do we have much rain for that matter.) How long do you recommend we wait before re-staining?

Randy
Randy
2 years ago

I hope I’m not being a pain in the butt but I’m concerned my contractor might not have the process straight. Would you mind letting me know if I have the correct product and processes? From your sound advice here and elsewhere, it appears the following is the right approach:

1. Use a pump sprayer to apply RAD stripper with the RAD stripper booster and gel additives;

2. Wait 45 minutes;

3. Pressure wash;

4. If there is any old stain remaining (but only if necessary), remove by sanding;

5. If sanding was necessary, thoroughly clean;

6. On the same day as the stripping and sanding, and while the wood is still wet, apply RAD brightener;

7. Let brightener sit for 15 minutes;

8. Wash off brightener;

9. Wait 2-3 months;

10. Apply new — and correct — stain.

Did I get that right?

Last edited 2 years ago by Randy
Randy
Randy
2 years ago

Thanks! So don’t brighten until after the weathering or brighten both before and after the weathering?

Randy
Randy
2 years ago

Thank you so much!!!

Sari
Sari
2 years ago

I have a new ipe deck that I stained with Messmers UV natural oil based stain. The smell is horrific – is there anything I can do about it ? How long will the smell last?

Also- can you suggest a stain for ipe that will maintain the pretty teak color the ipe has when unfinished? I love that unfinished color and when I stained it with messmers it tuned dark red. Is there a lighter color option?

Sari C Cooper
Sari C Cooper
2 years ago

Thanks! Which stain do you recommend for the lightest color and the least odor on a deck?

Julie
Julie
2 years ago

We had a citronella candle melt on the railing of the deck – is there anyway to get this off?

Josh
Josh
2 years ago

I’ve been using Ipe Oil in my cumaru deck, and it repeatedly turns into an opaque brown film after a couple months (attached picture shows the dirty boards on the left and cleaned boards on the right, prior to restaining). The film is really hard to remove – cleaning it off with a sodium percarbonate cleaner still takes hours of scrubbing. Any suggestions of what’s going wrong with the stain? It doesn’t seem like mildew, since it’s so consistent across the entire deck. I cleaned the deck before staining in October 2020 (similar to the boards on the right in the picture), so I don’t think it’s pre-existing dirt. There’s a part of the deck with a slight overhang that blocks a little sun and most rain, and it looks much better.

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Tsui Chern Cheah
Tsui Chern Cheah
3 years ago

I have ipe as a facing on my outdoor BBQ island. It was last stained 2 years ago when it was installed with Penofin stain (Ipe color). Stain has faded a lot on the side that gets direct sun, less faded on the shaded side. Reading the many posts, it seems there are better stains like RAD or Armstrong Clark. I’m thinking of switching to one of the recommended brands. Should I just clean the wood? Do I need to strip the previous Penofin stain too if I want to keep a similar color? What is recommended and what brands?

Joanna
Joanna
3 years ago

Hi, We have a two year old beautiful ipe deck and love the natural gray color as we have stone around it. Recently our dog chewed a bone with peanut butter and managed to get off his blanket with it and we now have a grease stain on the deck :( I quickly googled and for hard wood, it said to use white vinegar and water with dishwashing liquid…that didn’t work..another site said to use just the dishwashing liquid and scrub..that didn’t work. Do you have any suggestions to get rid of this stain? Thanks so much for your help!

Rob
Rob
3 years ago

Hi – 17 years ago we installed a Deck with Masaramduba . Various finishes have been applied over the years. Various contractors have spoken with “account reps” at SW and other companies for the proper way to finish. It has been sanded several times I presume as a way to remove previous products. It just seems like each attempt has been a major project and failure.

From reading in your blog, I am hopeful that if we simply clean and stain each spring and “keep up with it” that we should be ok.

Not sure of the product that is on there now. Possibly Australian Timber Oil but not sure.

Could we use a stripper, then wash with cleaner/brightner and then reapply stain without sanding? Moving forward Would a spring cleaning and staining work without striping or sanding.

Thanks

Emmitt
Emmitt
3 years ago

Hi, i have a less than a year old ipe deck that my contractor sealed with Thompson’s. He swore by it and of course when I dug in a little, I read its terrible for ipe if not all decks. We live in SoCal but the deck did get a lot of rain in winter and spring. It spotted up then turned gray quickly. Also, have portion that is shaded so not as gray as sunny areas. I would like to get it back to natural color and seal it. Is it too late to do this? Plus what steps/products should I take into consideration. Thanks.

Bill
Bill
4 years ago

Have you ever used Semco teak sealer on an IPE deck?

Keith
Keith
4 years ago

I have a client who is unhappy with the longevity of current stain. I am going to upgrade to Armstrong Clark. Curious what is the best / most efficient method to remove old stain before applying the new one?

Kieth
Kieth
4 years ago

Looking into the brand and type. I do believe it’s semi-transparent Penofin. No photos at this time but it’s a 3ft x 15ft bench. Using 1x3x3 Ipe boards.

Judy Bieniek
Judy Bieniek
4 years ago

Hi I have Ipe wood siding. I stain this siding every year but have the problem of fading at the top where it meets the metal. The siding is 5 years old and is holding its color beautifully except for the fading at the top.

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Warren Christie
Warren Christie
5 years ago

My Ipe deck is 12 years old and I have been using Messmer’s Cleaner/Brightener and UV Plus yearly to maintain it. The cleaner requires significant scrubbing for satisfactory results. Since it’s exposed to several overhead trees, it looks great for a month and then quickly loses its attractiveness. Would I get better performance from RAD and an Armstrong stain? If so, which stain do you recommend to retain a near-natural appearance?
Also, is there a product you recommend for a mid-season cleaning which doesn’t require the effort of the major annual maintenance/cleaning?

Bryan Locklear
Bryan Locklear
5 years ago

Hi – love your site, very helpful. We’re about to install a new deck. I want to use garapa instead of ipe. I love the look of ipe as it comes (not the price), but when stained it always becomes too dark in the samples we’ve seen. Garapa is a little yellow, but due to it’s lower density, I think it would be more absorbent of a pigmented hardwood stain and give more color options. Here’re my question(s).
– I’ve read that it’s good to pre-finish deck boards before installation to give maximum protection from drying out, ease application of that first coat, and to get coverage on all sides. But some say to wait few months. Which do you recommend?
– You recommend the Defy and Armstrong Clark stains in several places on the site. But the TWP100 has as good a review score here as those two, but doesn’t get any other mention. I am looking at TWP due to the variety of colors for the garapa. Is it not as good as the other two?
– Since garapa is less dense, would it accept more stain deeper and provide a longer window between coats?

Bryan
Bryan
5 years ago

Thanks very much for your response. I’ve read on other contractor/pro sites and on the TWP website that TWP 100 is a hardwood stain and works well for garapa and ipe if excess is wiped. But if you’ve tested on hardwood and found it not to work well, I’d take experience over sales pitch every time.
– Is TWP 100 not penetrative enough for h/w?
– I’m looking to darken and change color of garapa to a medium brown. Would Armstrong Clark Amber (or other color) be a good choice, or would I need to blend two colors?
TY

Linda
Linda
5 years ago

First, thank you for this site. It has been very helpful. We are considering installing a new IPE deck and using Armstrong-Clark Mahogany stain. We understand that we should let the deck be exposed for 2-4 months before using the RAD kit for prep and then staining. From posts below (Maya, Barbara), it seems that new IPE deck boards are likely to get stained or get water marks during that 2-4 month “exposed” period that would require cleaning or even sanding to remove. We are concerned that concerns regarding the staining and water marks could make it hard to use the deck or place furniture on it for the 2-4 months until it is stained. Please comment on how much of a problem this can present.

Sharon
Sharon
5 years ago

Hi,
We are ready to seal our IPE deck. We live in South Florida so our deck has became lighter which we actually like. We do have water markings on several spots. I would like to get rid of the water markings and keep the lighter color it has become. What kind of sealer should we use? And should I use the frequently mentioned Restore A Deck to get rid of the water markings? I already understood our first choice Thompson water sealer is a no go but have no clue what the best option will be.

Tx!

Sharon
Sharon
5 years ago

Thank you very much I will research the Defy Extreme Clear and start getting everything needed. Once done I will let you know how it went . Thank you !

Maya
Maya
6 years ago

Hi…we just had an IPE deck installed. It has sat for a couple months now and we are getting ready for the contractor to complete the project. We are getting conflicting advice on whether to seal or oil the deck. Our contractor sampled a sealer with some color (don’t know brand) but our architect said to use oil only. What do you recommend? the deck is by the pool and will get sun. We live in Texas so sun is plenty.

thomas elltoft
thomas elltoft
6 years ago

is thompsons water seal timber oil ok for ipe?

amanda
amanda
6 years ago

Hi, I have an IPE table and I actually want it to be gray. If I power wash it and remove the old stain can I stain it a gray and I will have the same up keep, but the color of the stain will be different? I have had the table for years and feel like a want a change.

Julie
Julie
2 years ago

so if it has grayed naturally and we want to keep it….powerwash with anything specific? So many of the products I have been reading about actually restores the color and I don’t want the color, I just want it clean. Then only use a clear product (reco?) product to seal. Then in the future (do you know how long?) will i have to powerwash the clear seal off and reapply? Really appreciate your help. Painters are coming in two days.

barbara
barbara
6 years ago

Just installed a new Ipe deck. Before we could seal the wood, we had a few wet nights and pieces of extra wood were left on the deck by the contractor. When these pieces of wood were removed we had stains. Some black drippings and even an outline of one of the boards. In addition there is some water demarcation where water dripped from an overhanging eave. Should we just sand out this area, sand the whole deck or not sand at all and just apply the sealer and the stains will go away. We plan to use Penofin as we have had success with this product in the past. But how to prepare the deck before application. Help

Jean
Jean
6 years ago

We have ipe flooring in our courtyard that is gray looking – not attractive at all. Would Messeners be a good product to Use?

Clive Rose
Clive Rose
6 years ago

Yellow cedar help
I have a new yellow cedar deck and am trying to decide on the best finish to provide some surface protection and a uniform appearance. I’m not too concerned about rot protection with this wood. The deck was laid last fall and has been recently sanded. I tested a couple of Sikkens CRD stains but the wood is so dense the stain just sits on the surface and very little color is transferred to the wood. Now I’m thinking an Ipe hardwood type stain might be a better choice for penetration? Any experience with yellow cedar with that stain type, or other suggestions.

DeckedOut
DeckedOut
6 years ago

Thanks for all the great advice- super helpful for IPE owners who don’t know a lot (me). I’ve used the Penofin Exotic Hardwood Formula in the past, but I don’t see it reviewed here. Any reason it’s not reviewed? Or any reason I shouldn’t continue to use it?

For where I live in Brooklyn, NY, Penofin is easier to get than the Deckwise or Armstong-Clark, though I can get the Defy product pretty easily, so just wondering which I should use.

hopethisisntdumb
hopethisisntdumb
7 years ago

I have a new redwood fence but I love the ipe look. Is there a stain I could use that would give me more of an ipe look?

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