"Rob Hanson" wrote:

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