Finish for garden bench

[Jack Fearnley]

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

[PDQ]

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

--

[B a r r y]

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:

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

Barry

[Jack Fearnley]

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

[Phisherman]

[Doug Brown]

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 |