Best varnish for outside table?

[leenowell]

Hi all,

I have made an outdoor table out of some untreated timber. I would like to retain the original wood colour so am looking for a clear, non-yellowing va rnish that will be fine leaving it outside. I have seen some yacht varnish which I guess covers the outdoor bit and also some hard floor varnish which would cover the hard wearing piece.

I have assumed any varnish is OK for tables ie if the children spill food a nd then eat it off the table nothing bad happens. :)

Anyone have any advice on specific products?

Thanks

Lee.

[Malcolm Race]

I would be very cautious about usind a varnish which leaves a film on the surface of the wood. The expansion and contraction of the wood will cause the varnish to flake off - I have seen this happen within 2-3 years on a south facing oak door treathed with yacth varnish. When I worked in a school about 8 yrs ago we had a hardwood frame made to support glass protecting a mosaic on a west facing wall. I treated it with a few coats of Wicked clear woodstain (a high voc product which may not be abaiable now). This soaked into the wood and brought out the colour of the wood. It is still in good condition now. Fior what you want I would try to find a treatment which soaks into the wood rather thah forming a layer on the surface

Mal;colm Race

[stuart noble]

IME no varnish lasts for long outdoors. Joinery quality softwood lasts pretty well but the silver grey weather beaten look is unavoidable

[leenowell]

Thanks for your replies. Funny you should mention wood treatment. My wife came across this

Has anyone used it? I thought it sounded too good to be true :)

Thanks

Lee.

[Mr Pounder Esquire]

I have made an outdoor table out of some untreated timber. I would like to retain the original wood colour so am looking for a clear, non-yellowing varnish that will be fine leaving it outside. I have seen some yacht varnish which I guess covers the outdoor bit and also some hard floor varnish which would cover the hard wearing piece.

I have assumed any varnish is OK for tables ie if the children spill food and then eat it off the table nothing bad happens. :)

Anyone have any advice on specific products?

Thanks

I used good quality yacht lacquer on my patio table, gave it about 3 coats. The next year I was scraping what was left of it off. Okay, it was in a sun trap, but it lived in the garage in the winter.

[newshound]

That's how it sounds to me too. Prevents rot, mould, insects, but harmless to people, pets, plants, and the earth? What about the funghi / moulds / insects living in the earth?

[harryagain]

I have made an outdoor table out of some untreated timber. I would like to retain the original wood colour so am looking for a clear, non-yellowing varnish that will be fine leaving it outside. I have seen some yacht varnish which I guess covers the outdoor bit and also some hard floor varnish which would cover the hard wearing piece.

I have assumed any varnish is OK for tables ie if the children spill food and then eat it off the table nothing bad happens. :)

Anyone have any advice on specific products?

Varnish these days is all water based crap. Won't last two minutes outdoors.

The days of proper "yacht varnish" are long gone.

You might as well use "creocote".

[stuart noble]

Most plastics don't survive long in a sun trap either. Whatever they use for agricultural cloches these days is pretty amazing. Seems to stay transparent and flexible

[leenowell]

Hi All

I thought we were on to a winner with the wood preservative. I called the ECO company I mentioned above. The land line is discontinued and the 0845 number routes to a mobile mail box. Very suspect.

So... I called Sadolin tech support. Net result, they say that their wood preservative only last 6 weeks and is designed to go below a weatherproof product such as varnish! They had no clear product that could help.

So... I called Ronseal tech support. Note helpful but essentially the same story. They had a coloured preservative which does give UV protection and waterproofing but not suitable for tables. They suggested I used a Conrol Danish oil.

Who would have thought this would be so tricky :)

[stuart noble]

A clear, UV resistant coating is perhaps a tall order. I wonder if Rustins might be worth a try. Certainly what used to be called their "liquid plastic" range was very tough and totally waterproof

[The Natural Philosopher]

Anyone who actually understands wood.

Basically exterior wood *unless its hermetically sealed* is subject to a massive range of humidity changes especially if its in the rain, or in contact with damp ground.

There is almost no chance of an open grain hardwood like oak being hermetically sealed and UV exposure makes it worse, so any half hearted coating will crack and open up the pores to the ambient moisture fluctuations and the rest just flakes off.

Serious layers of epoxy varnish - proper Marine stuff that looks like there is a 3mm layer of plastic between the wood and the world - is the ONLY hope for 'varnish' but it looks fearfully glossy and unnatural.

Otherwise you simply go for a soak it up anti-fungal and stain and hope the color lasts and redo it every year or so.

[Huge]

S'what I did with our garden furniture, which is some kind of tropical hardwood.

It's lasted ~20 years. One of the two benches finally fell to pieces this winter, the other is still going strong. The two armchairs were looking a little the worse for wear, so are in the shed awaiting repairs & painting to match our Lutyens bench, which I painted NT blue/green & put in the porch, to keep it out of the weather.

[News]

In message , The Natural Philosopher writes

May be worth asking Morris owners what they use on Traveller woodwork these days? The wood is ash, and there seem to be various people supplying new ash parts, and they may have specific recommendations.

[tabbypurr]

no useful info on that page at all, other than the price

NT

[Brian Reay]

As others have commented, I would avoid varnish.

I would recommend you look at something from the Sadolin range. You may find something which gives a clear finish.

Basically, you don't want something which will 'move' with the wood and allows it to 'breathe'- not the most technical of expressions but the general idea.

Likewise, for paint, I gave up on conventional paint when we had exterior paint work and used 'micro porous' paint. Great stuff, if you prepare the surface or apply it to new wood. I never saw it peel or crack etc.

[damduck-egg]

The missus wanted a similar product last year to coat a couple of Artists Donkey Easels that will become plant stands. Asked at the local hardware store which is still a family owned independent and has some long term employees who are fairly knowledgeable. Between them said that preserving such things forever outside was just about asking the impossible but that if we were determined to attempt it then they would ordre in a product from this firm .

The particular product being

It took quite a while for it to arrive after order which I don't know is a good thing because it does the job and is sought after or not. Cannot tell you how long lasting it is because this will be the first Summer the Easels will spend in the garden, in Winter they will be stored inside.

G.Harman