I recently finished an Asian style garden bench that turned out well enough to actually put in my yard to be used and even admired (as long as you’re not a woodworker). It was made from western red cedar instead of teak as this was my first try at an intermediate project and teak is going for 38$/bd ft. I stained it with a couple of coats of some Behr deck stain that my deck is stained with but I thought about a coat or two of something more protective. Any thoughts?.I have some spar varnish but have never used this product and don’t know if it will make the bench too shiny.
Thanks, Neil
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The deck stain should be enough. Do not apply any of the consume poly "spar" varnishes. Poly is rapidly attacked by the UV in sunlight and will quickly begin to yellow, crack and peel.
Try CWF-UV,
Don't use the spar varnish. It will start to peel in a couple of years, and that will be a disaster.
You need to use an oil-based wood protector which also has UV protection. Dustymctevish recommended CWF-UV from Flood -- I've used it, and like it a lot. (I haven't looked recently, but it has been available at Lowes in the past.)
It is a linseed-oil-based protectant, available in clear and a few colors. It goes on with a brush (but if you're amazingly good with a roller, that can work too.) And it will need refresher coats every one or two years.
Although that might have sounded like bad news, it's not. I've tried lots of products, and asked lots of professionals -- outdoor wood needs maintenance. And once every couple of years is better than most products.
You might also want to do a search at Breaktime -- its the forum that Taunton has for builders and contractors. There have been lots of discussions there on this very subject.
Thanks everyone for the advice. I like the idea of doing nothing further as that saves me a bit of work. However I may take a trip to Lowes and check out the UV protected materials. The spar varnish shall remain unopened until I build my first boat.
Neil, relieved that I didn't mess up the bench any extra
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