I'm getting ready to do a residing and deep energy retrofit on the back side of my house. While I'm tearing everything off, I thought I would dress up the soffit in the alcove outside my sliding glass door. The area is about 8' x 3'. I was originally going to use WRC, but when I got to my wood supplier, the WRC was $1.75/bft more than Sapele, which I love working with anyway and should stand up well. I've milled the lumber with tongue and grooves and will nail off with an 1/8" gap between boards (allowing for expansion of the tongues within the grooves). My question is what finish to use. It is outside, but very well protected. The likelihood of the boards ever getting wet are pretty small (unless the rain is blowing up), and there is no sun due to overhang and heavy shade. So there will be temperature and humidity issues, but Sapele is well suited for that anyway. I was thinking of spraying dewaxed shellac, to bring out the color and grain of the Sapele. Would be very easy to apply and to re-apply as necessary. Don't really like a poly outside as will be very difficult to refurbish and a marine varnish may be overkill. Could just leave natural, but want to show off the color and grain.
Other ideas?
thank you all for your ideas.
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