Should I fill in a crack?

[Neil Steininger]

I am making an outdoor bar that will be exposed to a good deal of rain, though not much sun. The top of the bar is a live edge slab of yellow cedar and has a crack running a decent portion of the length. I've stabilized the crack with a few butterflies and some aluminum bracket on the bottom. Now that I am ready to apply the finish (Man o War spar varnish) I am second guessing my choice to leave the crack open. Should I fill the crack with epoxy to prevent water from sitting in there? Will the varnish take as well? I am worried about the epoxy weathering poorly outside and not looking very good after a few years. Anyone out there have experience with anything similar?

Thanks!

[John TenEyck]

You're right, epoxy doesn't do well with UV exposure. However, a highly durable finish system is based on epoxy topcoated with varnish with UV absorbers. I would tape off around the crack as best you can, then fill the crack with epoxy. (If you don't fill the crack water is going to get in there and work its way under the varnish.) When it's cured, remove the tape and sand the top so the epoxy is flush and only in the crack. Then topcoat with a good exterior varnish. In my world, that's not Man-O-War, it's more like Epifanes Marine Varnish or equivalent. In a FWW test a number of years ago, Epifanes was by far the best one component varnish. Even better was epoxy + Epifanes, which is another option to consider. Many typical spar varnishes didn't last a year.

John

[Stan Calow]

I have an outdoor bench with some epoxied joints that were done sloppily. Where some epoxy was exposed, it's turned a very dark opaque yellow, which may or may not look bad with your wood.

[John TenEyck]

I have an outdoor bench with some epoxied joints that were done sloppily. Where some epoxy was exposed, it's turned a very dark opaque yellow, which may or may not look bad with your wood.


You likely didn't use a varnish with UV absorbers in it, right? Had you, that would not have happened.

John

[Wayne Lomman]

+1 for what John says. Epoxy only changes colour if unprotected from uv. Use a uv stabilised top coat and there is no problem. I use a similar system for protecting steel in severe marine environments. I get 10 to 15 years before the equipment needs rework. Cheers

[Neil Steininger]

Thanks for the good suggestions. I will be getting some epoxy after work today to fill it in.

Sorry about not responding to your suggestions sooner, the sun came out so I went camping for the weekend.