Replies

1. 
   DavidKul | May 22, 2009 05:40am | #1

   Cypress is a great wood for outdoor pieces. It doesn't rot. You can paint it with an exterior paint, or you can clear-coat it. Any brand of spar varnish (or spar urethane) will do for your clear coat. Just be sure to thin your first coat to get good penetration & adhesion. And put on plenty of coats - about twice as many as you might want to. I recently read a review of exterior clear-coat systems, and the oil finishes didn't fare well. The spar varnishes did very well.

2. 
   driveitlikeyoustoleit | May 22, 2009 07:41am | #2

   Its ashame that people build products to sell and assemble everything with staples.  Maybe you can take some of the parts off and re-assemble with stainless or brass screws accordingly, and may consider doing some dowel work.  I would recommend titebond III glue.  It has superior strenght and 100% waterproof for outdoor/exterior projects.  Matter of fact I just got done  building  a custom made hexaganol picnic table and used that glue.  I put a 1 3/8" cypress top on it and used a product sold by BLP Mobile Paints. Its called Jar Tar Marine Finishes  - Marine Spar Varnish.  I put 1 thined down coat on first and five more coats full strenght after that.  If you would like to see a picture email me and I will send you some. ([email protected]) DavidKul was right on the money with his reply to you.  Cypress grows in swamps and it loves water. Great for outdoor furniture, fence boards, exterior siding, flooring, and T&G ceiling boards for exposed beam ceilings.     

3. 
   YesMaam27577 | May 23, 2009 01:07am | #3

   Cypress quite simply will not rot, so long as you keep the end grain from soaking in water. If there are vertical pieces, the end grain on the top edge needs to be either covered by another piece of wood, or it needs to be sealed.

   If there are pieces in contact with the ground, that's a bad thing too.

   Now when I say that cypress will not rot -- I mean it will not rot for 50 or more years. So remember -- if you need to seal the end grain, you'll need to reseal it every couple of years (for the next 50 or so.

   Fasteners should be stainless, or brass as yo have noted. Glue needs to be one of the weather-resistant types -- Titebond3 is my fave.

   Now here's the rub with cypress. It moves a LOT with changes in humidity. With this in mind, those staples might not be a bad idea (if they are stainless). If you add screws, be sure to consider and cross-grain movement issues, to avoid cracking.

   Politics is the antithesis of problem solving.
1. 
   Zabo2 | May 26, 2009 05:57pm | #4

   I live in South Louisiana and have been building Cypress furniture for quite some time. The new cypress wood that is used mostly now days will not hold up like the old virgin cypress which is very expensive. However it will take  glue well and stainless or brass screws is the way to go. But---no clear finish will last long if the furniture is left out in the weather it will all crack and peel after a year or so. If you are up to refinishing every year or so I would use a good spar varnish which seems to last longer. Your best bet is to paint it. Use a good oil base primer and top it with a good latex acrylic paint. I know it is hard to cover up pretty wood but sometimes it's the best way.

   ZABO

1. 
   bambam | May 27, 2009 06:26am | #5

   will not hold up like the old virgin cypress

   You can say that again. I worked on a house several years ago in Jasper county that was sitting on cypress stumps. It was over a hundred years old too and still sitting on the original ones. The outside layer had rotted away but the heart was still there.Due to the recent state of the economy, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off

4. 
   Don01 | May 27, 2009 07:53am | #6

   The recent FWW #205 gave a good review of exterior finishes.

   Titebond III is good. I just built a little divider in the back yard and used PL Premium adhesive. If that were available in smaller tubes it would make a good choice - I think. It sure holds pressure treated lumber together.

   Don