I'll look into the mahagony as an option. Our deck is somewhat near the water and very exposed, so I'd rather keep the year to year effort down if possible...but it's difficult to swallow the long term cost of ownership when you're trying to stay on budget.
I was thinking the labor quote was a tad high, but given the comments it may actually be reasonable. It's from a reputable local crew who we've worked with before. I need to get a few more quotes though...
Thanks for the help
-spence