best wood for outdoor furniture

[Jim Colombo]

What would you say is the best wood for outdoor furniture in a hot fry climate like Phoenix?

[Chris Padilla]

Redwood and cedar are pretty good. Cyprus is another one. While those are all good, weather well, pretty bug and rot resistant, they are all on the soft side and therefore can get dinged and banged up a bit (which may or may not be a big deal).

I just made a seating bench/arbor thingy out of ipe and while it is supposed to be good for decking (heavy and dense), the jury is still out on how well my bench/arbor thingy will hold up but I suspect it'll be fine. It can take more of a beating than the 3 above woods.

Plan to apply your chosen finish (if any) at least once a year as the sun, wind and rain pummel it. All of these will turn an ash grey if nothing is applied to them or routinely applied to them. For example, if you want the redwood to stay red, you'd better stain it the red you want it to stay.

[Andrew Hughes]

I agree with Chris I think Cedar makes the best outdoor furniture.Its very stable and light and will not rot.Redwood would be my second choice.Good Redwood heart is gonna be pricey but it wouldn't bother with sap wood too soft and junky.
There is teak but that's for the rich people.
Plus if I had 5000 dollars worth of teak outdoor furniture I'd be out there guarding it every night with my shootin iron.

Just wonderin do you plan on sitting outside when it's a zillion degrees? Last time I was in Arizon I kept in the shade and that was brutal.

[mark kosse]

There is Jatoba(brazilian cherry) and Afromosia. Both are fabulous outdoors. I have some jatoba that has been outside exposed to the weather in the woods here in central tx for 31 years. Both can be had for about 4/5.00bf here.

[Martin Wasner]

in a hot fry climate like Phoenix?

I feel like this isn't a typo...

[Roy Harding]

I use a lot of northern red cedar - it's plentiful and cheap where I live. In the past, I've used redwood, and teak. All have weathered well.

[Reinis Kanders]

Even HD 2x will last for a decade if you paint it. If you don't paint it then you could get about 5 years. I made a picnic bench from lumberyard reject/free wood pile, mostly already weathered 2x10, 2x12 and it lasted 5 years of maritime weather, full sun exposure, piles of snow in winter, etc. It is still standing, but probably for the last summer.

[Art Mann]

I use cypress to build Adirondack chairs. It needs to be heart wood. White oak is also a good material for the purpose but it is heavy and less portable.

[Cody Colston]

What would you say is the best wood for outdoor furniture in a hot fry climate like Phoenix?

Of the domestics, ERC, White Oak, Cypress, Redwood and Black Locust are all good. I would use whichever of those is most readily available in your area.

The best wood for outdoor furniture is probably Teak but it's prohibitively expensive.

[Wes Ramsey]

As far as sealers, I've had good luck with Thompson's stained water sealer. I made a deer stand some years ago out of construction site stud scraps and it lasted about 6 years fully exposed before it started rotting. The finish looked good for 4 years or better, and it would probably still be standing had I smeared on a fresh coat after a few years.

[dan petroski]

I made a couple out of maple about 10 yrs ago and they are holding up well.. They are heavy by design so they won't blow into the Windows .

[Mark Gibney]

I like to use North American woods when I can. Ipe is just not sustainable, with the rates of illegal logging in Brazil and other tropical regions. It's also a bear to work with, and finish can't penetrate it much at all, so it doesn't stay on it.

[Yonak Hawkins]

If you're going to paint it, treated pine may be the answer.

[Glenn de Souza]

Will the furniture get a lot of sun exposure, or will it live in the shade on a patio or some other place under cover?

[Rich Enders]

I built some patio furniture 7 years ago from unfinished WRC shipped here direct from Canada. Although it weathers well, the early wood of the WRC is eroding and the surface is becoming corduroy like. The white oak furniture build at the same time is holding up well. The unfinished WO has weathered gray; The WO on some clear finished pieces is holding up well, but I have been unable to find a clear finish that will last for more than a year.

All of these pieces (12) have been out in full Phoenix weather (sun) year round.

[Roy Harding]

I built some patio furniture 7 years ago from unfinished WRC shipped here direct from Canada. Although it weathers well, the early wood of the WRC is eroding and the surface is becoming corduroy like. The white oak furniture build at the same time is holding up well. The unfinished WO has weathered gray; The WO on some clear finished pieces is holding up well, but I have been unable to find a clear finish that will last for more than a year.

All of these pieces (12) have been out in full Phoenix weather (sun) year round.

You're right about the early wood in Red Cedar - it will erode if left unfinished. I've had good results with the Sikkens "Cetol" line of finishing products. I've only been using it for the past 3 years or thereabouts, so I don't have any long-term results to share. That said, the RC items I finished with it have stood up well to the climate up here (we're in a northern rain forest, so much humidity, four seasons, heat/cold cycles), but we don't experience UV in anything near what you'd get in Phoenix.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

I did a Redwood Run a couple years ago into Northern California. Found a mill that could supply the stuff in any dimension that averaged 20 rings per inch with very few knots and no wain whatsoever. Not like the crapola I can get from local lumberyards. Wasn't cheap, but my pergola will last forever.

[John Piwaron]

I agree with Chris I think Cedar makes the best outdoor furniture.Its very stable and light and will not rot.Redwood would be my second choice.Good Redwood heart is gonna be pricey but it wouldn't bother with sap wood too soft and junky..

Cedar *does* rot. Eventually. After 10 or so years some planters I built from cedar have rotted at the joints. A bench laid across them developed a large rot spot that I had to remove and replace with an epoxy filler.

[Chris Padilla]

John,

Was the cedar left unfinished? For the planters, was there any liner to keep the dirt from direct contact with the box? If no to both, then I think 10 years is quite excellent. Once a finish is applied (and regularly applied as needed), cedar and redwood can last a surprisingly long time. I've got a very smallish porch in front of the house with a western exposure that gets serious afternoon sun and the redwood there is doing fine 15 years later but I did stain/finish it.

Bottom line, if one uses a bug/rot-resistant wood that is stable and you finish it (and possible reapply the finish as/if necessary), and you halfway pay attention to try to keep it out of the dirt and constant water exposure (with no drying period), the item can last quite a long time.

[John Piwaron]

John,

Was the cedar left unfinished? For the planters, was there any liner to keep the dirt from direct contact with the box? If no to both, then I think 10 years is quite excellent. Once a finish is applied (and regularly applied as needed), cedar and redwood can last a surprisingly long time. I've got a very smallish porch in front of the house with a western exposure that gets serious afternoon sun and the redwood there is doing fine 15 years later but I did stain/finish it.

Bottom line, if one uses a bug/rot-resistant wood that is stable and you finish it (and possible reapply the finish as/if necessary), and you halfway pay attention to try to keep it out of the dirt and constant water exposure (with no drying period), the item can last quite a long time.

I'm not complaining at all. My planters were painted with latex paint, the benches that bridged them were covered with Sikkens Cetol 1. The dirt was poured into the painted interior. I don't understand why that one spot, fairly large, rotted on the bench. It wasn't buried under the dirt.

The plan for these planters is the one Norm built on NYW. I built a 2nd set but I modified the plan to use a pair of dominoes at each joint. I also did a lot more to seal the wood prior to gluing (epoxy this time) and painting. All surfaces got 3 coats of that Rot Doctor sealer. Then glued together, primed & painted. I'm still using the original (repaired) benches. Those are varnished now with Epifanes clear gloss. That stuff has to be maintained annually. What's funny is that wood with the Epifane stuff on it oriented vertically seldom needs recoating. I'm in SE Wisconsin.

[Rich Enders]

Roy,

Thanks for the recommendation on the Sikkens "Cetol" line of finishing products. No more unfinished WRC for me.

[Bud Millis]

Chris,

Anything that won't rot! I like cypress and black locust - they are both inexpensive and last well.

[Jim Barstow]

I used ipe also. I built a bench that has held up beautifully for 10 years with no finish at all. It's fun to ask someone to move it: ipe is so dense that they do a double take when they try to lift it. The downside is that it's like working with teak; it will dull tools very quickly.

[Glenn de Souza]

Hi,
I'm in a continuing life long fight against the Phoenix sun. Sometimes it reminds me of that song, I fought the law and the law won. This year I refinished and coated a mahogany gate door and teak outdoor chairs with the Waterlox Marine system. This consists of a sealer coat (or two) followed by a finish topcoat (or three). It's a high gloss product and the manufacturer says the gloss is part of the UV inhibition system. This is the first year I've used it so time will tell, but the pieces I have finished with it get harsh sun exposure, that's for sure so here I am keeping up the good fight.

If you're interested, there is some very good information about wood in exterior environments in this article (http://www.woodworking.org/WC/GArchive99/9_19mcnamara2.html)I found by a wood finisher out of New Mexico named Jim McNamara who used to post actively on the old rec.woodworking newsgroup. I hope this is helpful.

[Logan Fitch]

I live in Fort Worth. Where did you buy these woods? Jatoba and Afromosia?

[mark kosse]

in houston i have bought both from masons mill. if you need some i can get it half way to fw with no problem but brazilian cherry should be easy to find.