Covered Patio Furniture – Wood Selection & Glue
Go_Bills
| Posted in General Discussion on
We will be moving to a South Carolina coastal town into a home with a screened in covered patio.
Should the furniture on the covered patio be made of an “Outdoor Furniture” Wood such as teak, redwood, white oak ….?
Would walnut or cherry hold up in the humid environment if it is not directly exposed to the weather?
Would Titebond hold up under these conditions as well?
Thank you in advance for all responses.
Replies
Treat it as outdoor furniture. Put pads on the bottoms where it will wick from the (concrete?) patio. Use a water resistant glue like TB3.
Walnut or cherry will last, just not as long as indoors. Cnidering the effort going into it and the unknowns to your new conditions the outdoor wood feels smarter.
Finish knowing you'll have to refinish / renew occasionally, or don't finish and enjoy having less work to do.
Ditto and more info:
Wood Against Weather
The right product and good techniques will keep your outdoor projects from falling apart
By Jim Tolpin #100–May/June 1993 Issue
https://www.finewoodworking.com/1993/06/01/wood-against-weather
Cypress which should be plentiful where you are moving is a great wood to use on you patio. It will last a lifetime in that environment. It is good to work with also. I have made outdoor chairs using Cypress and they are still functional after 30 years. I have never needed to put a finish on the wood but that is a choice to make.
Thanks to everyone for the advice
I use polyurethane glue for all outdoor furniture. Use sparingly and there’s very little to clean up. Use too much and you’ll have a mess to deal with. I use about half of what I’d normally use with pva. I shoot for no squeeze out on m&t joints and very little with edge gluing. Have mineral spirits to deal with any squeeze out.
The directions say for wetting one of the glue surfaces before joining but I don’t typically. I think there’s enough moisture in the wood (I could be wrong but I’ve never had any failures).