[Shop-talk] Choosing exterior wood stain

[PJ McGarvey]

>From my experience with using cedar outdoors, I can tell you that I would
*not* use "Australian Timber Oil" from Cabots.  On a table I made in the
summer, by the end of winter it was moldy.  Luckily I used Sikkens Cetol 1 on
the benches I made, and they were perfectly fine - though a little more faded
in color than I was hoping.  Sikkens is expensive stuff, and will probably be
hard to find.  I powerwashed, sanded and recoated my table with a Marine Spar
Polyurethane (they don't sell the varnish where I am anymore - FDA is cracking
down) with both looks great and will probably last longer.  Doesn't add any
color, so probably not what you are looking for.  PJ> From:
kvacek at ameritech.net> To: shop-talk at autox.team.net> Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007
14:33:33 -0500> Subject: [Shop-talk] Choosing exterior wood stain> > We're
getting a new cedar fence and arbor - about 250 feet, roughly half 6'> and
half 4', so it will take a lot of stain and time.  It's an incredibly> heavy
fence (no Home Depot specials here), so it's likely to last a long time,> and
I want to keep it looking good for a long time too.  Naturally I want to>
stain it immediately, especially the part that will be against the evil>
neighbor's fence and will be unavailable to us to stain again till she moves>
or whatever.> > I've always used the old-fashioned penetrating oil stains for
just about> anything I've ever stained, indoor or outdoor.  However, there's
lots of> evidence that a solid stain (I call that thin paint...) protects and
lasts> better for exterior applications.  And cedar doesn't have that much of
a> grain, particularly in a fence that you mostly see from a distance anyway,
so> I guess a solid is OK if it's really better.> > Test results are confusing
and hard to follow.  Consumer Reports, an> organization I don't always trust
anyway, just rated lots of stains, but none> of the most-premium ones we see
right now on shelves from the same> manufacturers that they rated (Behr,
Olympic, Cabot, etc.).  They did,> however, echo the solid vs transparent
durability issue I've been hearing from> paint dealers.> > I'm kind of
intrigued with the hybrid (my term, not the manufacturers')> products with
acrylic and alkyd oils in the same formulation.  Many are water> clean-up,
which really doesn't matter to me, but it's not a bad thing IF the> material
is durable and protects the wood well.  But I really just don't know> much
about current products.> > Soooo...  Anyone BTDT recently ??  Any paint
chemists on the list ?> > Thanks!> Karl
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