Outdoor furniture finishes

[ianm]

Hi everyone, I'm just wondering what people might recommend as a clear, hard, weatherproof finish for outdoor furniture (ie: bench seats, wooden veggie patch boxes etc) - something relatively chap, easy to obtain and easy to apply. Ian, Melbourne

[Jason]

Welcome to Workshop @ianm. We're pleased to have you join us as one of our latest members. 

We have a lot of community members who are keen woodworkers in the community so I'm sure you will get some useful suggestions for your outdoor furniture. Feel free to post anytime you need a hand with your projects - this is a friendly, helpful community who are always happy to share their knowledge and experience. 

Please let me know if you ever need assistance getting the most from the site or have any suggestions about how we can make Workshop more useful for you. 

Thanks again,

Jason 

[Kermit]

Hi @ianm,

I oiled some outdoor furniture on the deck before Christmas. This did the job for me - https://www.bunnings.com.au/feast-watson-500ml-clear-outdoor-furniture-oil_p1570620

Certainly ticks the boxes for clear and weatherproof, but I'm not sure what you mean by "hard". Do you mean hard-wearing? Or are you actually looking for some sort of hard coating like a paint or an epoxy resin?  

[ianm]

Thanks Kermit - yes by hard I mean hard-wearing the last product I used lasted a year then deterioriated down to raw wood which then went grey (in places). Not sure what I used - a varnish? Don't oils have issues of being high-maintenance? Have to redo them every year?

[Kermit]

No worries. You would need to re-oil every year or two. I find that if you do that then its a quick and easy job. If you leave it too long then you have to sand right back and its a much bigger effort. 

I should have also said that clear finishes and hard-wearing aren't really compatible. Eg Feast Watson say their clear furniture oil is not recommended for anything that cops direct sun. You are best to go for a colour tinted oil which has higher levels of UV filters for longer-lasting protection.

[Isobel]

This is why composite products are becoming more popular - like the Ekodeck boards that @Trying used on her deck - https://www.workshop.com.au/t5/Outdoor-Living/Deck-me-please/m-p/4730

[Trying]

Thanks for the reference Isobel. I must mention that Jason asked for some photos of the deck, now that 12 months have passed. I'm on my way home from holidays soon and will deliver as promised. Happy New Year to all. 

[Jason]

@Yorky88

Just wondering if you could add your expertise to this topic given that you create a lot of outdoor furniture and planter boxes? Anything you could recommend to @ianm?

Thanks,

Jason

[Yorky88]

Hi @ianm yeah unfortunately it’s as @Kermit said unfortunately what ever you finish it with it will always need constant up keep at least once a year and I was recently in the same boat as you. I wanted a hard waring exterior clear coat and very quickly realised that this doesn’t exist. I found the Feast Watson clear varnish but it has no UV protection so the timber would still change colour regardless and you would be re coating every six months which isn’t very practical for anyone haha the best thing to do would be to find a stain varnish that is as close to the colour you are after and go with that.