# Outdoor Mahogany finish?



## jayelwin (Mar 22, 2008)

Hello,

I just had a new porch installed on my house and the contractor created a beautiful railing with a hard wood railing top. I was told it was African Mahogany but my hardwood floor guy thinks it's Brazilian Walnut. Man this stuff is gorgeous, and it's as dense as cast iron. I sanded it with 150, 220, and 400 and then using 0000 steel wool I made it shine. Without any stain at all it's the perfect color. Now it's totally unsealed and of course it's outdoors. But it has a depth and luster that I want to preserve, and have it maintain that "furniture" quality. Of course I can poly it, but I always felt that poly gives wood a bit of a plastic coating and would cause it to lose that fine wood look. If it was indoors I'd put on some sort of penetrating wax as a finish. Does anyone have any advice on what I could put on it to preserve it in the elements but at the same time maintain that fabulous depth and shine you get when you polish such a hard wood. 

Thanks

-Josh


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## tmuli (Mar 12, 2008)

You might give it a couple of coats of pure tung oil. Follow with spar varnish. Spar has the ability to move with the wood, since it's located outdoors and will be subject to the weather changes.


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## jayelwin (Mar 22, 2008)

Tung oil penetrates, no? Would it provide protection outdoors? I would be willing to treat the railing every so often to keep it nice. The marine varnish seems like it would create a clear "topcoat" finish that would not look furniture-y. 

-Josh


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

I would just go with the Tung oil. Make sure it is *100% pure*. Some of the "oil finishes", like danish oil are a mix of either BLO, Tung, and a varnish. 

I've had my fill with spar varnishes on outdoor stuff. When I bought this house I installed a custom Mahogany door that I made and used Interlux - Schooner. It is one of those high priced marine type exterior varnish with all the UV stuff. IIRC, they recommend an initial 6 or so applications.

I've never been so disappointed with a finish, and this includes "Helmsman Spar". They do look like plastic, and when it comes time for a re-do, you are sanding your butt off.

With just the oil finish correctly applied, you have wood in a fairly natural state, and when it comes time for a re-oil, maybe a wipe down, or some very light sanding is all that's necessary. It's so much easier to maintain, if it's done regularly.


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## jerry (Nov 1, 2006)

Any oil finish offers very little ,if any, protection against water vapor or anything else. Polyurethane varnish is one of the worst finishes to use where it is exposed to uv. It turns yellow and starts to flake off within one year. I agree with cabinetman about spar urethanes they are all bad with Helmsman the worst I have ever seen. None of the usual outdoor finishes last very long without being renewed.

Jerry


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## jayelwin (Mar 22, 2008)

I think I'll try the tung oil finish. I'll have no problem every now and then reworking it. I think I do want to avoid a poly or varnish. I'll let you know how it goes.


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## Charles Neil (Oct 21, 2007)

use waterlox marine finish...it has uv protection and works great,tung oil alone doesnt have alot of exterior resistence...the waterlox has some excellent exterior resins....use 4 or 5 coats...does good


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## jayelwin (Mar 22, 2008)

*Looks good so far*

Well I decided to go with the 100% Tung oil. I bought it from the Real Milk Paint Co. because they had a compelling web site telling me why theirs was the best. (wouldn't everybody, though). I bought a quart, and sure enough a quart of slightly thicker than corn oil oil arrived. It was a light yellow in color. I sanded down the rails again (they had been rained on and "popped" a bit) with my orbital down to 220. Then rubbed slightly with 00. The mahogany was a beautiful brown. I mixed the tung oil 1:1 with mineral spirits and then wiped it on thickly with a t-shirt rag. Wow! It was like wiping pure beauty right on the wood. And I would have never thought the wood would immediately take on the most incredible deep red hue. I was shocked at how nice they looked instantly. I'm also amazed at how much color the oil brought out. The wood was a really nice brown when it was unfinished, but it was absolutely beautiful with nothing more than a coat of oil. Everyone wanted to know how I stained them and no one believed me when I told them they were completely unstained. I have since put on two more coats of oil and will put on 6-7 eventually since the wood has the potential to get wet if it rains heavy. And I will keep the oil around and reapply some more every few months. It dries to a very nice semigloss smooth finish, like fine furniture. 

Now to the floor. The whole porch floor is 1" thick 3" wide plantation mahogany planks. And when it went down I was unimpressed. It was a collection of slightly different colored drab grays and browns. I remember thinking "this is mahogany?" My hardwood floor guy was going to sand it down and treat it with a commercial wood preservative to protect it from the elements. On a lark I got down on the floor with my orbital and sanded a 2 x 2 foot section down to 220 and then wiped on some of my tung oil mixture. Wow again! that section of floor exploded with color. It's amazing that the beauty of wood can really be hidden from view. Each plank was a different shade of red. I realize now what potential this porch really has. Of course I do not see myself tung oiling the whole floor, it would never hold up and that would be a maintenance commitment I'm not wiling to make (the railing was one thing). So what should I put down? It doesn't have to be shiny so I don't want varnish or poly. I just want to preserve the wood from water, and bring out all of that color at the same time. Will a "water sealant" bring out the color? Or will it just seal in the drabness of the untreated wood? 

Thanks for all of your help.


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## tmuli (Mar 12, 2008)

If you don't mind the upkeep on the rails, the tung oil by itself will work fine. I use the Real Milk CO tung oil on my furniture. As you get a few coats on, start reducing the amount of mineral spirits, to get almost pure tung oil. It'll need a little longer to dry between coats, but will build faster.
As for the floor, you will want to use something with more protection. I have a cedar threshhold that I only used tung oil on, and it's doing alright, but hasn't had enough wear to make me decide one way or the other how it will hold up. Most floor finishes are poly based.


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## jayelwin (Mar 22, 2008)

*Tung Oil on railing, what on floor?*

Thanks. I have been using less and less mineral spirits. I was actually thinking of just using the bottle of tung oil itself from now on. It has a pop up squirt top, I could just squirt a little river on the top of the rail and then just rub it in. 

Anyone have a good floor product for mahogany outdoors?


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## jayelwin (Mar 22, 2008)

*Bona Kami*

So my hardwood floor guy got back to me. He wants to sand it to 120 saying that the finer grits inhibit the color from being realized. He's going to coat the floor with Bona Kami Deck Sealer. I'm going to get a quart from him and test a section to see what I think. 

Anyone with any experience here?

-Josh


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## ROB11 (Apr 8, 2008)

tmuli said:


> You might give it a couple of coats of pure tung oil. Follow with spar varnish. Spar has the ability to move with the wood, since it's located outdoors and will be subject to the weather changes.


Could some gave me help on Mahogany front door that is three years old and faded on the outside to honey color, the inside looks great still 
can I use tung oil to bring back the color on the outside of door ?
Do I need to sand it first?


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## tmuli (Mar 12, 2008)

You will need to sand first, to get the original color back. The tung oil would be your best bet. If you want to put multiple coats of tung oil and recoat occationally, then you wouldn't have to use the spar varnish. The varnish will need to be sanded every couple of years and reapplied if you use it.


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## oldwooddabbler (Aug 29, 2016)

On an inside stair railing I used a mixture of tung oi, spirits and varnish. It has worn well with no discoloration over 20+ years. Of course it was inside. I am considering this for my Brazillian Mahogany porch decking. It was originally coated with polyurethane several times over the last 10 years, now needs sanding and coated with something else. I am thinking the tung oil, varnish and spirits mixture to give it a so called faux hand rubbed look. Don't know how it will last OR look for sure.


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