Finish for garden bench
 

I have built a rustic looking garden bench out of cedar and I now need to
finish it. It needs some kind of stain to unify the variety of colours in
the wood and, of course, it needs protection against the weather. I live
in Montreal Canada so the weather can be pretty extreme.

I bought a Behr product from the local borg. It was supposed to be a light
cedar but it came out rather opaque and darker than I wanted. It looks ok
if I brush it on and wipe it off but I am afraid that there wouldn't be
enough left on to protect the wood if I did that.

When I suggest using a wipe on stain followed by protecting with a clear
finish such as Thompson's water seal I get funny looks. Is there something
terribly wrong with this approach?

Actually there is one practical problem because the wiping stains don't seem
to come in cedar.

Any suggestions would be welcome at this point.

Best Regards,
Jack Fearnley

=20
"Jack Fearnley" wrote in message =
. ..
| I have built a rustic looking garden bench out of cedar and I now need =
to
| finish it. It needs some kind of stain to unify the variety of =
colours in
| the wood and, of course, it needs protection against the weather. I =
live
| in Montreal Canada so the weather can be pretty extreme.
|

If you leave the cedar alone, it will age to a beautiful silver all by =
itself. If you have a South facing deck, the sun will cook any cover =
you apply. I have that deck and I've been thru Sikkens, Behr and HH. =
Only thing I found that really works is my belt sander.=20
=20
| I bought a Behr product from the local borg. It was supposed to be a =
light
| cedar but it came out rather opaque and darker than I wanted. It =
looks ok
| if I brush it on and wipe it off but I am afraid that there wouldn't =
be
| enough left on to protect the wood if I did that.
|=20

What you see is what you get. There is no stain that will stay. That =
is why there are 2 kinds of colour cover - opaque and semi-transparent. =
The former is for those that do not want to see grain and the latter for =
those that do. You can re-apply the stain periodically but you will =
eventually cover up the grain with stain and no grain will show.

| When I suggest using a wipe on stain followed by protecting with a =
clear
| finish such as Thompson's water seal I get funny looks. Is there =
something
| terribly wrong with this approach?
|=20

Ask any reasonably astute sales person and you will get the =
"Is-he-for-real??" stare/look. The water seal does not stay good for =
long. If you want to see grain, look for a clear wood preservative and =
be prepared to re-apply it annually or bi-annually. The preservative =
will keep the cedar from splitting and checking - at least that is what =
they say. =20

| Actually there is one practical problem because the wiping stains =
don't seem
| to come in cedar.
|=20
| Any suggestions would be welcome at this point.
|=20
| Best Regards,
| Jack Fearnley
|=20

--=20

PDQ
--

Jack Fearnley wrote:
I have built a rustic looking garden bench out of cedar and I now need to
finish it. It needs some kind of stain to unify the variety of colours in
the wood and, of course, it needs protection against the weather. I live
in Montreal Canada so the weather can be pretty extreme.


I really like Olympic Maximum Cedar Tinted Oil Finish on cedar.

This guy sells 100's of pieces a year finished with it with excellent
results:

http://www.baldwinlawnfurniture.com/

The finish is very easily renewed. If it's not stocked, almost any
paint store can get it.

Barry

B a r r y wrote:

Jack Fearnley wrote:
I have built a rustic looking garden bench out of cedar and I now need to
finish it. It needs some kind of stain to unify the variety of colours
in
the wood and, of course, it needs protection against the weather. I live
in Montreal Canada so the weather can be pretty extreme.


I really like Olympic Maximum Cedar Tinted Oil Finish on cedar.

This guy sells 100's of pieces a year finished with it with excellent
results:

http://www.baldwinlawnfurniture.com/

The finish is very easily renewed. If it's not stocked, almost any
paint store can get it.

Barry

Thanks for this and thanks also to PDQ. I have read the glowing reports of
Olympic on the Baldwin web site and I am going out to buy some today.

Best Regards,
Jack Fearnley

Clear finishes are better than nothing at all. Transparant stains are
better than clear finishes. Paint protects exceptionally well.
Thompsons seal is a poor product.

On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 16:48:28 -0400, Jack Fearnley
wrote:

I have built a rustic looking garden bench out of cedar and I now need to
finish it. It needs some kind of stain to unify the variety of colours in
the wood and, of course, it needs protection against the weather. I live
in Montreal Canada so the weather can be pretty extreme.

I bought a Behr product from the local borg. It was supposed to be a light
cedar but it came out rather opaque and darker than I wanted. It looks ok
if I brush it on and wipe it off but I am afraid that there wouldn't be
enough left on to protect the wood if I did that.

When I suggest using a wipe on stain followed by protecting with a clear
finish such as Thompson's water seal I get funny looks. Is there something
terribly wrong with this approach?

Actually there is one practical problem because the wiping stains don't seem
to come in cedar.

Any suggestions would be welcome at this point.

Best Regards,
Jack Fearnley

Why does everyone think that that cra_ _ y looking grey is "beautiful? If I
wanted grey kumber I'd try and buy it grey to begin with. :).
"PDQ" wrote in message
. ..

"Jack Fearnley" wrote in message
. ..
| I have built a rustic looking garden bench out of cedar and I now need to
| finish it. It needs some kind of stain to unify the variety of colours in
| the wood and, of course, it needs protection against the weather. I live
| in Montreal Canada so the weather can be pretty extreme.
|

If you leave the cedar alone, it will age to a beautiful silver all by
itself. If you have a South facing deck, the sun will cook any cover you
apply. I have that deck and I've been thru Sikkens, Behr and HH. Only
thing I found that really works is my belt sander.

| I bought a Behr product from the local borg. It was supposed to be a
light
| cedar but it came out rather opaque and darker than I wanted. It looks
ok
| if I brush it on and wipe it off but I am afraid that there wouldn't be
| enough left on to protect the wood if I did that.
|

What you see is what you get. There is no stain that will stay. That is
why there are 2 kinds of colour cover - opaque and semi-transparent. The
former is for those that do not want to see grain and the latter for those
that do. You can re-apply the stain periodically but you will eventually
cover up the grain with stain and no grain will show.

| When I suggest using a wipe on stain followed by protecting with a clear
| finish such as Thompson's water seal I get funny looks. Is there
something
| terribly wrong with this approach?
|

Ask any reasonably astute sales person and you will get the
"Is-he-for-real??" stare/look. The water seal does not stay good for long.
If you want to see grain, look for a clear wood preservative and be prepared
to re-apply it annually or bi-annually. The preservative will keep the
cedar from splitting and checking - at least that is what they say.

| Actually there is one practical problem because the wiping stains don't
seem
| to come in cedar.
|
| Any suggestions would be welcome at this point.
|
| Best Regards,
| Jack Fearnley
|

--

PDQ
--