Suggestions needed outdoor oak barnwood table

[Joe Mioux]

I am needing some advice on finishing. I am currently making an outdoor dining table out of old oak barn wood. It is a combination of white and red oak. This is the wood I had to use and I know the weatherability of some of it isn't ideal.

What is a good durable finish that will give the table that old "country", (U.S., French or English ;) ) look. The top is Red Oak.

This is a table for a friend of mine.

thanks
Joe

[Steve Schoene]

Best finish would be paint. Four coats of a high quality exterior or marine enamel. If you want to "distress" the finish, do any wood shaping before finishing, and make sure that if you want "rub through" effects that they are effects only and still leave plenty of finish. Dings and abrasions that break the paint film could mean catastrophic rot--from the inside out--with red oak.

You might want to saturate the wood, particularly the red oak, with epoxy before painting.

[Joe Mioux]

Paint is definitely out of the question. The wife of my friend wants a natural look.

BTW, this table looks better than the farm table they purchased in England two years ago. That table is in their dining room. They paid $1000 for that.

Other than Poly, any other suggestions?

[Steve Schoene]

Poly, at least the single part consumer grade versions, is one of the worst choices.

If you must have a clear finish, make sure your friend understands that any such finish calls for regular, frequent maintenance. By that I mean annually sanding and applying another coat of finish, and every half dozen years or so stripping off the old finish, sanding, and reapplying the finish anew. And dings and scrapes need to be promptly repaired or sun and water will quickly attack that spot and begin to lift the varnish from the wood. Outdoor furniture that "gets away" becomes a truly awful looking object with yellow patches and peeling varnish, leading to black patches and rotten red oak.

What you want is a high quality marine spar varnish. In Carlyle I suspect you will have to obtain this through on-line sources or go to St. Louis. (I grew up in Alton.) I believe there is a West Marine store in St. Charles, on line, www.defender.com is a reliable, low cost source.

There are three products to choose among--Epifanes Clear Varnish, Pettit Captain's, and Interlux Schooner. Any other brands you find at big box stores or paint stores are not the same thing and will fail much more rapidly. At West Marine, a liter of Epifanes will cost $35. The Pettit is absolutely as cheap as you can go.

I would start with epoxy, choosing a low viscosity variety, and giving particular attention to saturating the end grain. When this is cured, sand and begin applying the varnish, brushing on at least 6 coats, sanding with 320 grit between coats. Follow the manufacturer's directions. You have to build a pretty thick finish. If you stop at two or three coats they will fail before the end of the summer if this gets much sun at all.

[Joe Mioux]

Thanks Steve: I appreciate that help. Spar Varnish sounds like a good idea.

STL woodcraft or Rockler should probably have something good.

Joe

BTW: Do you ever get back to the Alton area?

[Steve Schoene]

We don't have people in Alton anymore, so we haven't been around for a while. It's a pretty sad, rusting town I'm afraid. The "new" Bridge is nice though.

You will not find suitable spar varnish at either Rockler or Woodcraft, nor are there any cheaper alternatives to the particular varnishes I mentioned, despite what they say. Boating is a big thing here in Essex, CT, and ways of protecting wood from sun and elements is a major topic of conversation and testing. These are the only products that stand up, though there are a few substantially more expensive things (two-part finishes) at upwards of $60 a quart that also perform well, but are very challenging to apply. (Spraying is preferred, and even if you can brush them, the solvents they use are daunting.)

West Marine is likely your only St. Louis prospect. I've seen the St. Charles location in passing when my brother still lived there, and the West Marine website says there is another location in Manchester, on Manchester Blvd.

[Jim Becker]

Exterior Oil-based Alkyd deep tint base reportedly dries clear...

[Steve Schoene]

I'm still very sceptical about the paint base finish. It may dry clear, but it is designed for protection with enough pigment that the finish is opaque. That by itself should provide lots of UV protection, both to the paint and to the substrate. Therefore, manufacturers would have no incentive to add large amounts of UV filtering or absorbing chemicals. They also have to meet a much tougher price point than the marine spar varnishes at $35 a gallon for paint base compared to $25-$35 a quart for good marine spar.

The paint base likely does have mildewcide additives, not found in marine spar, but the smooth slick surface of the spar varnish reduces the consequence and likelihood of mildew.

The only direct comparison test I have seen compared the paint base to Minwax Helmsman, which is one of the worst performing spar varnishes in other tests, so in itself that's a pretty weak recommendation.