Hi,

I'm just about to finish a new deck made out of red cedar. I was
wondering what would be the best finish to protect it. I'm in Canada
so this deck will have to deal with snow/ice at least 4 months per
year. Summer can be hot too (30°+). The deck is almost full south so
it will get from one extreme to the other.

I've seen the Thomson Waterseal ads over and over during the New
Yankee Workshop but a friend of fine used some a while ago and the
finish remained gummy and never really dried. He had to strip it out.
Since it's a new deck, like a new piece of furniture, I don't want to
ruin so much work with a poor finish.

Any suggestions?

Greg D.

Hi Greg,
I have had good luck with Sikkens products. To do the best job (with any
product) you should coat all sides of the lumber after sanding (80 or 100
grit) off the mill glaze. In other words you apply a lot of the finish
before assembling thee deck. Horizontal surfaces will need to be redone down
the road but that is quite easy. JG




----- Original Message -----
From: "Greg D."
Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
Sent: Saturday, July 15, 2006 11:36 PM
Subject: Finish on red cedar in Canada
"Greg D." wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'm just about to finish a new deck made out of red cedar. I was
wondering what would be the best finish to protect it. I'm in Canada
so this deck will have to deal with snow/ice at least 4 months per
year. Summer can be hot too (30°+). The deck is almost full south so
it will get from one extreme to the other.

I've seen the Thomson Waterseal ads over and over during the New
Yankee Workshop but a friend of fine used some a while ago and the
finish remained gummy and never really dried. He had to strip it out.
Since it's a new deck, like a new piece of furniture, I don't want to
ruin so much work with a poor finish.

Any suggestions?

Greg D.