My lady has commissioned me to build a garden bench. She wants it painted (white). It will rest near a lake in the Blue Ridge (VA). What wood do you suggest the bench be made of?
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Southern yellow pine.
Make sure the wood is not in contact with the ground, though. Get it up on something impervious to water.
If you keep it painted, yellow pine is a good choice. Otherwise, the cheaper of cypress or white oak. Put some feet on the bottom to avoid ground contact as that is the first place moisture will get to. I used square rubber feet on a couple of benches and tables. .
Outdoor woods: Teak, cypress, redwood, white oak, cedar, or pressure-treated wood. Perhaps cypress or white oak would be a good choice. Use stainless-steel fasteners.
Another trick is to soak the feet with a thinned solution of epoxy. Once the epoxy has soaked into the bottoms of the feet, it will not rot due to contact with the ground. Since the OP plans to paint the bench, there won't be any issues with subsequent finishing.
Good Luck.
What do you use to thin epoxy with?
You don't, you buy the correct resin and hardener for the project.
BTW, white oak and epoxy don't seem to make a good marriage.
Lew
I use acetone but I suspect other ketones should work as well. Thin as much as you need but keep in mind that the thinner it is, the more easily it penetrates but the more applications you need since there will be less epoxy with each application.
I have used this method quite successfully on teak and oak. The legs on these pieces are still as solid as the day they were placed in different gardens about five years ago. Both pieces, by the way, were finished with Penofin. By making sure the epoxy did not leak into the visible sides of the legs, there was no aesthetic problem. Since the OP intends to use paint, it won't matter if the epoxy does appear on the sides.
I have found this method to be less expensive and more readily available for me than using a specially formulated epoxy.
Good Luck.
I would consider the tropical hardwoods like ipe or mangaris...very impervious to rot...
david
Art D> My lady has commissioned me to build a garden bench. She wants it painted
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