Advice for exterior bench

[jack dempsey]

Hello, I am looking for advice for an exterior bench that is in the planning stages. It will be used on a covered porch so minimally exposed to the elements. At times it will get exposed to wind blown rain and possibly snow. The plan is to leave it on the porch year around. I am considering white oak for the bench. Any advice from those who have experience as to species of wood, the best glue and the best finish for protection is appreciated. Jack

[Thomas McCurnin]

Cedar or Redwood would be my first choice. I would use an oil based stain as the finish and would not varnish or poly it, as the finish might have to be renewed. Most people here will recommend Titebond III, although I would use ordinary yellow carpenters glue, regular Titebond. I saw some really neat benches at Mount Vernon the other day, which obviously get hard use, rain and sun. If you are interested in a picture, please let me know. They were basically 3x3 cedar mortised into each other to form the basic frame and 1x slats for the back and seat.

[lowell holmes]

Isn't cypress a good outdoor wood?

https://www.wood-database.com/cypress/

[Mel Fulks]

Heart cypress is good. But most of what is sold is just sappy new wood with no resistance to rot.

[lowell holmes]

Another option is https://www.wood-database.com/oregon-white-oak/

[Wayne Cannon]

USDA says that today's redwood is no more rot and insect resistant than Douglas fir. I would be concerned with splinters -- redwood, especially, but also cedar cause allergic reactions. I would lean toward white oak or something like ipe (mainly because I have ipe left over from a deck). I know cypress is popular for Adirondak chairs.

[Thomas McCurnin]

Whether douglas fir or redwood is more rot resistant depends on where the wood is located on the tree. If you are talking heartwood, then yes, douglas fir is reasonably rot resistant. And if you are still talking heartwood, then Western White Pine and Lodgepole pine are also good choices. However, redwood and white oak (both sapwood and heartwood) are equal to heartwood douglas fir, so that is a better choice, or at least less discriminating and more available. Perhaps this is the study Wayne is making mention of. https://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/bridges/documents/tdbp/decayres.pdf

[Brian Tymchak]

Regardless of choice of wood and finish, I would recommend covering the bench when not in use. This will greatly prolong the life of any finish. I cover (with a cheap grill cover) some stairs for our hot tub I made 7-8 years ago with White Oak treads and finished with Epiphanes marine varnish. Still pretty much looks like the day I put the finish on.

[Jim Becker]

White oak is an excellent choice, IMHO, and you should use a water resistant PVA like Titebond III, epoxy or other water resistant/water proof adhesive. Finish is the hard part because a film finish will end up being more work over time. A penetrating finish like Sikkins or similar would be my choice. There have been a number of threads over the years in the Finishing discussion area here at SMC around outdoor projects.

[Stan Calow]

jack, FWIW I'm no expert, but I made a bench out of white oak about 5 years ago, that has been in full midwest sun and snow for that whole time. I used epoxy for the joints. It has held up extremely well structurally, but turned black almost immediately (see photo). At first I thought it was mold, but then was told its a chemical reaction with water. As such, Im not sure how to prevent that. I finished with Penofin oil-based deck finish, and re-coated after scrubbing annually for a couple years until I gave up and let it go. Its not unattractive as it is, but perhaps others can advise on better protection.

413816

[Thomas McCurnin]

Here are some pictures of the bench I saw at Mt. Vernon, per request
413857413858413859413860413861413862413863

[Pete Staehling]

White oak is nice. Here in the Florida panhandle we have access to nice cypress that weathers well and I am inclined to let it go gray when used outdoors in full sun.

Partially sheltered I may use a finish, but I too would avoid a film finish. Something easily renewed is probably the way to go IMO, that is unless you are up for quite a bit of work to keep it nice.

I do have some chairs with pine seat tops on my semi sheltered porch that are varnished and I find them worth the trouble, but they are just a wooden disk so they are super easy to sand the rough edges and touch up the finish every two years. They look like new after six years with minimal effort every couple years, but would have been a lot of trouble if they had been entirely wood chairs or benches.

Given how nice the seat tops look and how much I enjoy the look of them I can see where someone might want to do the whole chair with varnish, then I think about the upkeep...

[jack dempsey]

Thanks for the pictures. It is always helpful for me to get other ideas when I have a project in mind.

Here are some pictures of the bench I saw at Mt. Vernon, per request
413857413858413859413860413861413862413863

[jack dempsey]

Thanks to everyone for the information. I am leaning towards White Oak for several reasons. I gather from the information received it should hold up well to the limited weather it will be exposed to, it is readily available and finally I am pleased with the look. Jack

[Erik Loza]

Ipe not an option?

Erik

[John TenEyck]

This.

No wood does well over the long haul outside unless you like weathered gray, at best, and black mold, moss, and a host of other issues in many cases. On finished wood there's the upkeep required to keep the finish from degrading, typically measured in months, not years. Covering outdoor furniture just about eliminates all those problems. The only problem I now have with the two pieces I keep covered is the wasps like to build nests up under the covers so I get an unwanted surprise sometimes when I pull the cover off. Nothing is perfect, but dealing with a few wasps is nothing compared with the nearly yearly maintenance before I started using the covers.

John

[jack dempsey]

Ipe could be an option, however it is not as readily available in the Southeastern Pa. I imagine I could order through a local lumber yard though.

[John TenEyck]

I have an Ipe' deck. Does complete stripping and refinishing every year sound like fun?

John

[jack dempsey]

John, I assume that this is your experience with Ipe. That being said what finish have you used? Jack

[John TenEyck]

John, I assume that this is your experience with Ipe. That being said what finish have you used? Jack

That's my experience, yes. I started out with Ipe' Oil when I first built it. That faded within a couple of months which was disappointing but not nearly as frustrating as the dirt and black mold that was on/in it by the next Spring. So then I tried Penofin Hardwood Oil. Same result, only even harder to get the crude off. The best stuff I've found to remove the dirt/black mold has been TSP + bleach with a power washing. Jomax deck stripper works, too, but costs over $150 to do my deck. After even more research I'm trying Armstrong Clark's oil based deck stain this year. It's not as good looking as the other two, but if it doesn't turn into a dirt/mold mess over the Winter I'll be OK with that.

I built a Sapele table that sits on my deck. I finished it with some of the Penofin Hardwood Oil. After 2 years it still looks new - I keep it covered except when I'm using it.

John