Adirondack Chair

[Marc Prudhomme]

Hi all,
Thinkin bout makin a bunch of adirondack chairs for outside.I know there are better woods for outdoor projects but I would like to go with pressure treated pine.I have heard mixed opinions on wether I should prime and paint or just stain.Lets hear some opinions from the best woodworking forum on the planet.
Marc

[Jim Becker]

The issue with PT is that you really can't prime and paint it until it dries out...which takes at least 6 months once your project is assembled. Even the exterior stain shouldn't be applied until the wood dries for best results. Maybe you can find some reasonably priced white oak as an alternative to the PT...

[Marc Prudhomme]

what about just waiting the 6 months to let it dry out before adding the stain?

[Bryan Berguson]

I'd wait even longer than 6 months to paint and prime PT lumber. I think you'd be better off with the stain. When it starts to fade you can easily reapply. Can't do it easily with the paint. I have one made with PT and one with poplar both primed and painted on my covered front porch. The PT is losing some paint...

I'm thinking of doing some more adirondacks too and was considering using cedar with nothing on it. Not sure yet and will ask here for opinions before I start, just like you did! :)

Bryan

[Bill Bezilla]

Marc,

I'd think twice before doing that.

Don't know if you have worked with any of the new pressure treated since they supposedly made it safer.

from My experience.
1. Dimensionally stable it is not. Unless you have a place to dry the chairs for 6 months out of the sun it is going to be pretty cracked up by the time you can stain it.

2. I find I have a sinus allergy to th new stuff. Maybe this is just me.
- I was fine with the old stuff.

I do have a couple of outdoor chairs made from SPF and some made from oak. I applied solid color stain and then a gloss paint and they have held up great ( ~ 5yrs now.)

[Gary Keedwell]

I'd wait even longer than 6 months to paint and prime PT lumber. I think you'd be better off with the stain. When it starts to fade you can easily reapply. Can't do it easily with the paint. I have one made with PT and one with poplar both primed and painted on my covered front porch. The PT is losing some paint...

I'm thinking of doing some more adirondacks too and was considering using cedar with nothing on it. Not sure yet and will ask here for opinions before I start, just like you did! :)

Bryan
I made 4 of Norms chairs from cedar and they are great because they are very light. I made 2 from PH. Mahogany and those suckers are heavy to lug around. ( keep that in mind if LOYL does some of the furniture moving;) )

Gary K.

[Marc Prudhomme]

Has anyone in here had any luck with pressure treated pine??????

[Roy Hill]

Marc,

In my area (East Tennessee) there is a lumber yard that has treated lumber that is already dry when you buy it. The lumber is called "Cox Wood", a brand name I think. The lumber is kiln dried, pressure treated and then kiln dried again, thus it is dry from the git go. You might check to see if somone stocks that type of pressure treated lumber in your area.

Roy

[Bryan Berguson]

Gary,

Did you leave them natural? I never thought about the weight but I will now. I got my plans out of Popular Woodworking about 14 years ago. They were one of my first real ww projects and they turned out pretty good. Nicest part about them is the concave back. They are vey comfortable, as adirondack chairs should be.

Bryan

[Max Lucciola]

I've built them out of white oak, cypress, and cedar. I like the look of the cypress, finished natural, the best. I'd steer away from PT pine for the reasons already stated as well as to avoid the toxic dust that stuff throws off. Since each chair will only take 15-20 bf of lumber, buying better wood won't increase the materials cost out of the ballpark (I know, matter of opinion) and you'll end up with a chair that will look good for quite a while.

[Gary Keedwell]

Gary,

Did you leave them natural? I never thought about the weight but I will now. I got my plans out of Popular Woodworking about 14 years ago. They were one of my first real ww projects and they turned out pretty good. Nicest part about them is the concave back. They are vey comfortable, as adirondack chairs should be.

Bryan
No...I painted them white so they would peel. LOML wanted the shabby chic look. LOL I kid you not. I think I made them in 1993, too. That's the project that I bought my Bosch Jig Saw.
By the way...they still look shabby:D
Gary K.

[Kendall Landry]

Hi Marc, I brought this PT pine home soaking wet. A few days later the surface was dry enough to stain. Came out great. Oh and gorilla glue likes it wet. :D

[Gary Keedwell]

Hi Marc, I brought this PT pine home soaking wet. A few days later the surface was dry enough to stain. Came out great. Oh and gorilla glue likes it wet. :D
I think your right Kendall...A couple weeks out in the hot dry sun and cool nite breezes does wonders for drying. I always thought it was bunk to wait months or even a year, like alot of people do. Some kind of Urban Myth:cool: :D

Gary K.

[Kendall Landry]

I think your right Kendall...A couple weeks out in the hot dry sun and cool nite breezes does wonders for drying. I always thought it was bunk to wait months or even a year, like alot of people do. Some kind of Urban Myth:cool: :D

Gary K.

hehehe, I wouldn't say urban myth but it was dry enough on the outside to take the stain. What you see in the pic weighed around 250 pounds. It will prolly lose bout 75 or so.

[Gary Keedwell]

hehehe, I wouldn't say urban myth but it was dry enough on the outside to take the stain. What you see in the pic weighed around 250 pounds. It will prolly lose bout 75 or so.
Wow...that's what I call dehydration:eek: :p

Gary K.

[Dewayne Reding]

It been my experience it will accept stains after just a month or so of summer weather. It is dripping wet wet when you buy it around here. At least it held perfectly fine on my 200ft long retaining wall I stained years ago. As already stated, PT is FAR from dimensionally stable. Anything you make has to be well designed. An unsupported chair arm or leg is going to move more than would be acceptable to me.

[Dennis Peacock]

Marc,

It's not just the PTP that I'm concerned about. It's the stability of the overall chairs. Pine is a very soft wood and the wood fibers are easily crushed with mechanical fasteners. White Oak was the original "outside wood" and many of us have used Aeromatic Cedar(red cedar), Yew wood, and Cypress for making outside furniture. This is the style chair (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=6230&d=1080537828) that I made from 8/4 & 4/4 cypress. These were done and put to use in May 2004. The see nearly daily use, weather premitting, and they are holding up just fine to date. Use a good waterproof glue on them and if you use any mechanical fasteners? Check out McFeely's and use the screws that are made from 503 Stainless Steel. Doesn't stain the wood, will not rust, and very high quality. Helps keep the chairs looking beautiful for as long as the wood holds up.

The chairs I made were a combined design from 3 different chair designs. I built 2 prototypes, 1 with a straight back..very uncomfortable to sit in for extended periods and 1 with a curved back tilted back just about 2º further than designed. The 2nd design was perfect and everybody that sits in these chairs always say that they are the most comfortable chairs that they have ever say in. :)

Whatever wood you choose, make the primary frame and support structure out of 8/4 wood..even if you have to glue up two 4/4 pieces to make it work. The chairs will last a LOT longer with a stronger support structure.

Just my 2¢ on the subject. :D

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Hi all,
Thinkin bout makin a bunch of adirondack chairs for outside.I know there are better woods for outdoor projects but I would like to go with pressure treated pine.I have heard mixed opinions on wether I should prime and paint or just stain.Lets hear some opinions from the best woodworking forum on the planet.
Marc

You can coat PT with a two component catalyzing urethane before it's totally dry. In fact the moisture may help the catalyzation process.

However, if you cut the pieces up small enough they will dry rather fast. I like to make Adirondacks with very small slats cause it's easier to get 'em to conform to the comfy curves that I like in my chairs.

[Bryan Berguson]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11837203@N06/1186991056/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11837203@N06/1186991076/

First attempt at posting pictures... didn't work, will try again after dinner...

Bryan

[Mike Spanbauer]

my personal preference is either african mahogany or white oak. Both share very similar weather resistance, finish and machine very nicely, and look beautiful.

wall lumber has the redhot special of mahogany this month for 100bf (4-5 chairs) for around 360. if you're local, you can just pick it up. That's a fair price when you consider that it'll rarely if ever need finishing.

Mahogany ages with weather to a very attractive grey / silver and remains that way. The natural oils are such that it needs little else.

good luck.

mike

[Todd Jensen]

I've got no wood info to offer and not trying to hijack the post, but wondering if any of you guys that have built these chairs have plans or links to plans for this style chair - the LOML has suggested she wants a few of these. Thanks for any help; looks like the wood vs. wood discussion has a ways to go.:D

[Gary Keedwell]

Just a thought on chairs. I have seen alot of people suggest white oak for outdoor chairs. You have to remember that they will get moved around alot and alot of times LOYL will be doing the moving. White oak is heavy. Just a thought because I have cedar and I have some non-cedar ones that are heavy . ( every once in awhile I get "friendly" reminders about that:rolleyes: :) )
Gary K.

[Jim Becker]

I've got no wood info to offer and not trying to hijack the post, but wondering if any of you guys that have built these chairs have plans or links to plans for this style chair - the LOML has suggested she wants a few of these. Thanks for any help; looks like the wood vs. wood discussion has a ways to go.:D

My personal favorite is the New Yankee Workshop version...easy to build and quite comfortable as the seat isn't canted back quite as much as some Adirondack designs are.

[Gary Keedwell]

My personal favorite is the New Yankee Workshop version...easy to build and quite comfortable as the seat isn't canted back quite as much as some Adirondack designs are.
Mine too;) I've built 6 of them.

Gary K.

[Todd Jensen]

Thanks guys, I'll look it up. :)