How to varnish over stained wood outdoor furniture?

[5Thumbs]

I bought some outdoor furniture for the patio recently. It came with a light stain all over the wood, but the staining won't last for long against the elements. I was wondering what I would need to know if I wanted to varnish over the staining in order to preserve its life. Do I need to sand the wood first before using a marine varnish, or do I need to paint an undercoat of some sort first, or can I simply go ahead and varnish straight away?

[Jewelleryrescue]

Hi @5Thumbs 

Does the wood look dry like  normal wood?   What I mean is some  outdoor  furnature are oiled and  might  need to reduce the oil  out of the timber first to apply any varnish  type  paints.

If  a furnature is oiled  people can always  keep it oil with linseed oil or the like if  done right I how ever is near yearly maintenance,

My personal favorite Is

Sikkens Cetol HLSe.  (Natural No  colours )  this usually has  timber stains  added be advised)

Finish with  

SIKKENS CETOL TGL GLOSS PLUS UV and weather resistant

[MitchellMc]

Hi @5Thumbs,

Great advice from @Jewelleryrescue. Typically outdoor furniture will come with a protective coating, and yours has likely been coated with an oil and stain combo. It would be best to leave it as such and do the yearly re-oil. The benefit of oils over hard coatings is that with yearly maintenance, they can be rejuvenated with a quick wipe over of oil. Hard coatings, however, need to be sanded back and re-coated when deteriorated. That's why you'll generally find most outdoor furniture comes with oil rather than a hard coating, as maintenance is much simpler.

If your furniture doesn't have a protective coating, which would be unusual, you can apply a marine varnish directly over the stain.

Please let us know if you have further questions.

Mitchell

[5Thumbs]

Thanks Jewelleryrescue. Good advice.

[5Thumbs]

Hi Mitchell

Thanks for the feedback. It's looking like I should not varnish but rather re-oil each year. Glad I asked you guys, because I would have made a bit of a mess with this one, I think.

[MitchellMc]

No problems @5Thumbs! Please reach out anytime you need assistance with a project around the home or garden; we're here to help.

Mitchell