A local Boy Scout is planning to make some very simple
rustic live edge redwood slab benches for a local nature park
in the greater Los Angeles area.
The question is how best to finish the slabs. Something simple
and easily repaired is important as the park experiences occasional
tagging and other minor vandalism. Tolerance of high temperatures
and intense sunlight is important.
Thanks in advance!
Replies
I would use an exterior oil/ stain. I've had good results with TWP. It comes natural ( no pigment) and in tinted versions. The more pigment the more UV protection but for redwood I would either use no pigment or the redwood tint. Their 300 series is designed for outdoor furniture so, safe. TWP was one of the only EPA approved products for using on decks over water. Where I live spilling the wrong thing in the water will get you in handcuffs! It's easy to apply and easy to maintain. Everything that is exposed to the elements needs up keep and has to be redone regularly . My house is redwood sided ,by the ocean so gets beat up pretty hard. Its finished with TWP and it holds up pretty well.
With the turnover in the scouts and the focus always on the next project I would assume the finish will not be maintained. Redwood will fade to a beautiful silver-grey in a single season. Leaving them unfinished is a viable option.
Or it doesn't turn grey....I have a few thousand board feet of redwood fencing that desperately needs a good power washing and oiling but because of water restrictions due to several years of drought and because it's an enormous job it hasn't been done. The best time to do it coincides with the most restricted water situation.
Depending on orientation to the sun or shade I have some grey , grey with green mold, grey with black, some nearly pure black and some with lichens beginning to grow. New fence boards purchased green and installed untreated turn jet black in the first few months and is really, I believe, a form of mold endemic to redwood. That black power washes off easily though and that nice grey comes out from underneath and then it gets oiled.
After more than a half century of doing countless projects for others ....you learn that ,or need to learn ,that once you complete a project it's yours for about 5 minutes, you look at it closely, love it ,hate it ,take a picture or dont even, turn it lose, cash the check and then it's theirs. What happens to it after that is beyond your control and best put out of your mind. I'm at the point of when I encounter something that i did in the past I sometimes don't even recognize it as something that I did.
I hear you, pantalones868. My 20 year old redwood fence was left unfinished and, as you say, has long since turned streaky black with
some grey mixed in for variety. I may try the power washer, if I can
get up the motivation.
I can guarantee that the Boy Scout benches will not be maintained, unless
I or my wife do it.