Cypress chairs

[Dave Bureau]

Ok experts, here is the question. I'm building some adirondack chairs out of cypress. should I seal the wood or leave it untreated. I havent used cypress brfore so I dont know how it reacts to weather. Will it take days to dry off after a rain storm or will water not absorb into the wood? I would rather not use anything as a finish. but if I have to what do you suggest?
Dave

[Dewey Torres]

Dave,
You don't have to treat cypress at all and it will last so long you might be ready to design another chair by the time the elements render it/them unusable. Cypress grows in water so if any wood "liked water" you got it.

That being said it will change color (most likely a weathered grey) over time and if you had to coat it with a durable finish, look to the "marine" finishes which are the best defense for water.

Please post pics when you start!

[Bob Cooper]

My wife is after me to build some of these out of cypress too -- she saw norm do it and so she's after me to put it on the list.

[Bill Huber]

I have build 5 out of cypress and they are doing real well, I did nothing to them. I used Titebond III as glue and did glue everything that I could glue.

The 2 oldest ones are starting to turn just a little gray after 7 months in the sun.

102627

[Neal Clayton]

they will eventually crack a bit under the sun if you leave them in direct sun all day long, but even that will take time. the wood is spongy and not very hard, so the cracking tendency in sunlight will still take many years.

if you want them to last forever outside, a deck stain would be a good choice. otherwise they're fine unfinished.

put it this way, everyone with a fishing camp in south louisiana builds their dock out of cypress. unfinished cypress dock planks in constant contact with sea water and direct sunlight last ~10 years before they need replaced. considering those conditions are twice as harsh as any common back yard, your unfinished chair would probably last 20 or so years under a few hours of daily direct sunlight, or indefinitely more in a shaded area or on a porch.

water will never hurt it as long as it can dry.

i'm currently building some windows out of cypress myself.

[Dell Littlefield]

I built some about 6 or 7 years ago and left them unfinished. They weathered to an even gray color. However, here in Florida, they also tend to get a little mold on them. I just use my pressure washer about every two years to clean them off. They have held up very well.

[Eric DeSilva]

I just built some 'dak chairs using cypress and decided to coat 'em with penofin (that stuff *stinks*...), which is an oil-based UV stain like Sikkens. Much to my surprise and chagrin, it tooks *weeks* for the penofin to soak into the cypress--that is how resistant cypress is to liquid penetration. I applied the finish, wiped off the excess, yet weeks later, it was still oily to the touch and the stain would come off on light clothing.

I've resolved to leave the next set of cypress 'daks nekkid or paint 'em w/an exterior paint.

[David Keller NC]

Dave - I've built a lot of things out of cypress, and it has excellent weather/sun resistance. It's about as good as mahogany, though not as good as the champion of all time - atlantic white cedar. White cedar has been so over-harvested, though, that it's tough to get and really expensive when you can, so it's not a practical material for outdoor chairs.

One comment regarding rot resistance of cypress, however. Old-Growth heart cypress is incredibly resistant to rot, but it's unusual to see this for sale, as it requires a tree with about a minimum diameter of 3 feet or so to get a usable yield of the heartwood. Most cypress that's commonly available is a mix of heart/sapwood in one board, and while the sapwood is still rot resistant, it's not on the same level as the heartwood. For that reason, I'd caution that cypress will indeed rot if the end-grain is left on the ground, at least here in the Southern US. I'd think the same would hold true of anywhere in the Eastern US or Northwest Pacific coast where it's damp most of the year.

There's ways to deal with this, of course. The simplest is just to ensure that the chairs are stored on a patio or deck that will allow the end-grain to dry out. If they're intended to be yard chairs, you can seal the end-grain with a flexible epoxy, which will prevent water adsorption and make the chairs last much longer.

[Neal Clayton]

if you really want to go overboard, there are a few national distributors that sell sinker stock (sunken old growth logs reclaimed from river beds and resawn).

the sapwood will be gone, the heartwood will be a pre-weathered dark grey, and the wood will be for all intents and purposes, petrified. best price i've found on sinker stock is around 7.50 though. there are a few places around here selling it as high end fence/decking material.

[Dave Bureau]

Ive already got the stock and have started building. Does this stuff take long to dry out once getting wet in a rain storm?
Dave

[David Keller NC]

"Does this stuff take long to dry out once getting wet in a rain storm?"

Not any longer than treated pine, in my experience. Exactly how long that is will depend a lot on whether you're in Alabama in July or in Colorado in September. One other comment about not finishing it at all - be aware that if you're in a humid part of the country that the wood will likely mildew. Doesn't really hurt anything structurally, as it doesn't penetrate the surface of Cypress the way it would with maple or pine, but doesn't look too nice.

[Cliff James]

Eric - did the Penofin ever dry completely? My deck chairs are nearly done, and it will be a couple of months here in Colorado before I can use them. The leftover Penofin from my deck posts is beautiful on a test piece of cypress, but a week later (in a 50 degree shop), still getting color transfer on paper towel when I rub it. I can leave 'em natural, but that color would be perfect....

[Dave Falkenstein]

Eric - did the Penofin ever dry completely? My deck chairs are nearly done, and it will be a couple of months here in Colorado before I can use them. The leftover Penofin from my deck posts is beautiful on a test piece of cypress, but a week later (in a 50 degree shop), still getting color transfer on paper towel when I rub it. I can leave 'em natural, but that color would be perfect....

Not to butt in here, but... I used Penofin a few times on decks. After my experience, I switched to SuperDeck and never had the oily finish issues again. I have used SuperDeck on outdoor furniture with no residue problem.

A friend of mine did a test of Penofin and SuperDeck side by side on the same deck. SuperDeck took less time to apply and SuperDeck outlasted the Penofin over a test period of several years.

[Brian Effinger]

Dave - which SuperDeck product was it specifically? I'd like to try these out too.

[Eric DeSilva]

Eventually they dried out, but it did take weeks. Unfortunately, I tested mine by sitting in one in a white tee shirt. Much better to use paper towels. :rolleyes:

[Ken Milhinch]

Dave,

That being said it will change color (most likely a weathered grey) over time and if you had to coat it with a durable finish, look to the "marine" finishes which are the best defense for water.

Dewey,

Maybe you could help him out with some "Battleship Grey" :D

[Mike Hedges]

I have built about 10-12 ad chairs , all have no finish just let them age with the weather

[Don Jeansonne]

I have used Thompson's Water Seal (clear) with good results here in Louisiana but it must be re-done periodically. The natural color is onlt very slightly chnaged. Most people seem to be okay with it.