Finish for White Oak Pergola

[Josh Baldwin]

Hey just looking for recommendations for a white oak pergola I'm building for a client. Would love to know what has worked well for others. Thanks

[Jim Becker]

What is the look you/they want it to have?

[Josh Baldwin]

What is the look you/they want it to have?

Would like to keep the natural look. Definitely not a stain or coloring. I think they'd prefer a satin/flat look, but I've told them a higher gloss will give more protection, so they're open to that as well.

[Mel Fulks]

I think they should look at pics of old ones ,especially “garden follies “. Old ones were often painted with bright colors. Rustic is okay too
but certainly not the only option. They don’t all have to look like state road side stuff. Many old ones had canvas covers for shade and
rain cover. That is a nice touch and there are plenty of pics showing them .

[Josh Baldwin]

I think they should look at pics of old ones ,especially “garden follies “. Old ones were often painted with bright colors. Rustic is okay too
but certainly not the only option. They don’t all have to look like state road side stuff. Many old ones had canvas covers for shade and
rain cover. That is a nice touch and there are plenty of pics showing them .

Yea they've looked at a lot of things I've sent them, but they really want to see the wood. I personally also like the wood look myself. I think white oak is really nice looking and want to see the color/grain.

[Frank Pratt]

They need to understand that any finish bring with it a continuing maintenance chore, with the glossy film forming finishes being the most labor intensive.

[Josh Baldwin]

So after researching a bit more I think I don't want to go with a film poly/epoxy type of finish, because when it does go bad it will look terrible. I figured with something like Total Boat's Danish Teak Sealer when it goes bad in a few years it won't look awful with film flaking everywhere. Are there are superior products you guys would recommend?

[Mike Monroe]

I replaced the slats on outdoor bench with white oak and used this stuff (see below) last summer. The white oak turned a very dark brown, almost black color which looked good since the metal ends were black. I re-finished the metal ends too with rattle can black paint. I had this stuff on hand as I had rebuild some picnic tables for a friend.

https://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/wolman/woodlife-coppercoat/

[Stan Calow]

I've used two outdoor oil-based products on white oak, Penofin and Cabot Australian Timber Oil. The wood turned grey/black anyway, even with an annual re-coat. Its not unattractive so I let it go after a few years. The only spots that stayed the fresh color are where some epoxy squeezed out of the joints.