Woodworking – Sealing Cedar?? / online plans??

I made a few cedar tables/benches this weekend using a free plan that I found on the internet. Bench plans

It actually turned out looking VERY cool, and the cedar made it look very pretty. (Can I use the word pretty on this site?? ) It looked so good that my wife made me go out to Menards and buy more material for another bench… So now I have two benches, one is 48×18 like the original plans dictate, and the other is 48×32. We will have the option to put them side by side along the exterior of a tub, or to stack the smaller one on top of the larger one. This will give us a step to get into the tub, as well as a sitting area in case we just want o dangle our legs without getting in. (or help us accomodate more people – its only a small 3 person tub -people can rotate in and out of the tub)

Anyway, I will be using these benches outside. They will be in the shade most of the day, and somewhat protected from rain/snow/wind, but not completely. Since they will be used for a bench beside the tub, they will get water, chlorine, etc on them at times.

My question is as follows…. I know its cedar, and cedar is naturally resistant to decay. I shouldn’t have to apply any sealer or anything if I won’t want to. However, the natural red/white colors of the wood look so cool, I would hate to see them naturally grey as cedar does. What can be done to prevent the greying of the wood?

Initially, I thought I would use Thompson’s Water Seal on the wood. The wood that I applied this to took on an even richer tone, which is great. I’m not sure, however, if Thompson’s alone will help prevent the greying of the wood. I assume that some sort of sealant is what I need to do this, but I’m not sure. (Or will Thompson’s help keep the wood colorfast?)

What would be the best product to use to help avoid the natural greying of the cedar????

I did try some clear sealant over the top of the Thompsons…. Seemed to apply and dry just fine. Looks nice, and (so far) seems to work ok together. So can I use the Thompson’s to make the wood just a little richer colored, and then seal with a clear coat sealant to help hold in the color? I know if I use sealant the Thompson’s is unnessesary, but I do like the look of the wood better after using Thompsons….

Fairly novice woodworker, but I REALLY enjoy putting stuff like this together. Easy, functional, can be done in relatively short order, and looks GREAT!!!

Thanks!

Mike

Oh ya, One more thing… Anyone know of any websites that have lots of online DIY woodworking plans? I guess mostly for simple furniture, but for anything I guess. Most of the websites I find want you to buy the plans… I’m just looking for free home project online plans like the one I referenced above. Thinking of making some cedar Adirondack chairs next. Thanks!

Heres what I would do if I were doing the same thing. I know completely sealing the wood is the best bet. So I would apply enough coats to completely seal the wood. You can do this by useing a polyureathane sealer. A one hour drying time poly is all you need. Apply it then let it dry then apply another coat, then maybe another to completely seal it. You’ll want to sand lightly between each coat to ease the tack that will be there. When its done its going to be very slippery and its not good to use the step as it is. On your final coat dust the step surface with some silica sand, it dosent take much, about a tablespoon full for each step. You don’t have to apply another coat over the final sand. Another good idea is apply felt to the bottom of each leg or base so it dosen’t slide on the floor and out from under someone stepping on it. Completely sealing it will help it retain its color.

Sounds like your cedar should be treated like a cedar boat and finished with a marine or even an epoxy varnish. You may consider the cost prohibitive, but a couple of coats of either of those would result in a good protective finish.

If it was my stuff I would use McCloskey Man O’War Spar Marine Varnish this stuff is tough as nails and will keep the color on the wood.
as for slip resistance use a product called Shark Grip made by Krylon you can feel but not see it like sand.

I know its cedar, and cedar is naturally resistant to decay. I shouldn’t have to apply any sealer or anything if I won’t want to. However, the natural red/white colors of the wood look so cool, I would hate to see them naturally grey as cedar does. What can be done to prevent the greying of the wood?

BULL! Cedar begins to decay as soon as 90 from exposure. When you see it turning grey, the fibers are deteriorating and sealants will not stop the aterial from wasting away. Granted, it decays much slower than most, but it still breaks down.

So far, two products I like. Sherwin Williams Woodscapes stain. Runs about $30.. per gallon and goes on like paint. The other is a marine grade varnish. That will require sanding and fresh top coat every two to three years

The last thing on this earth that I would put on anything made of wood that I own would be Thompson Water Sealer. If you want something that will last about 20 minutes, it would be a good choice. I made the mistake and put that crap on my cedar dock.

After 1 summer, I sanded it down and put Sikkens SRD on. The Sikkens lasted longer than the Thompson, but still isn’t maint free.

I’ve got Sikkens on my cedar deck… It works ok, but a fresh coat every 1-2 years is necessary or it will start discoloring, and then its hard to get it back without sanding/re-doing the whole thing… I definately don’t want to put stain into the bench, so some sort of varnish as stated in the posts above will probably be what I’ll do. I’ll look into some of that marine grade sealant.

Any reason that you can think of why it would be a bad idea to use the Thompsons’s first, and then the clear sealer/varnish??? Like I said its unessesary from a protective stanpoint, but it makes the cedar colors/grain really “pop”. I can’t think of any reasons why it shouldn’t be ok….

Thanks for all the input!

Mike

Gotta echo the comments about the greying of cedar. I have a log home with a ginormous cedar deck (I hate to brag, when you have a big deck…) To protect any wood from greying you need to not only block out the water, but the UV rays as well. That takes pigment. Get a decent stain (Sikkens is good stuff) and you won’t be let down. I’ve had great luck with Weatherseal brand (Sunlight is the color that seems to be the most cedar-like). I get it through a loghome supply outfit (Schroeders). It ain’t cheap, but it works.

And you’ll have to re-apply any stain every other year(no matter how much they brag about it lasting for years and years). The rule of thumb is that you need to do it before you needed to do it.

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(I hate to brag, when you have a big deck…)

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I’ve got a pretty big deck myself… Maybe we should have a p$ssing contest with our decks….

So basically, I’m screwed as far as color goes??? I don’t want to stain it, but I don’t want it to grey. Pretty much a no-win situation, or is there another solution?

The Weatherseal “Sunlight” color sounds interesting if it looks much like natural cedar… But if its a light color stain, will it really protect that much better than no stain at all?

Thanks,

Mike

The McCloskey Man O’War Spar Marine Varnish has a UV Blocker in it and it works
http://www.valsparglobal.com/val/resident/manowar.jsp
I used this product on some cedar window boxes that I built and after 2 years in direct sunlight they still looked like new.
it did also make the colors in the wood come out nice .
I will look for some pictures and post them if I can find them

Sweet, I’ll have to try that stuff….

Thanks!

The Weatherseal product does an awesome job of enhancing the cedar color. Easy to work with too, it goes on like pudding (no drips or runs), then turns wet-looking, then sets up. I can’t compare it to the marine stuff as I’ve never used it.

This the stuff? – “Sunlite”

http://www.loghelp.com/finishes/finishes5.html