Replies

1. 
   DennisS | Oct 11, 2004 09:51am | #1

   Canoe -

   I've got the same situation on our house. Beautiful knot-free T&G cedar soffit. My painter suggested log oil. It's a formulation of varnish and tung oil from what I gather. It's not a flat finish - with successive coats it begins to develop something of a sheen.

   Plain linseed oil (I've been told) does not resist mold or mildew very well. Someone (anyone) correct me if I'm wrong.

   ...........

   From Beautiful Skagit Co. Wa.

   Dennis

1. 
   e2canoe | Oct 11, 2004 03:39pm | #2

   Interesting.  I'll see if Leevalley Tools has some and will try it out on a scrap piece.

2. 
   Mackwood | Oct 12, 2004 12:36am | #4

   Dennis,

   You're not wrong about the linseed oil.  It does not provide much water/moisture protection at all.  Military used it on gun stocks for a long time and quit for that very reason.

   Mack"WISH IN ONE HAND, #### IN THE OTHER AND SEE WHICH FILLS UP FIRST"

1. 
   DennisS | Oct 12, 2004 09:25am | #7

   Thanks, Mack, for the corroberation. A colleague of mine some years ago told me that linseed oil supports mold growth as well. One of those funny things that stuck in my mind over the years. I try to stay away from exterior finishes with linseed oil in them mainly for that reason. Now I have another one (grin) ....

   ...........

   From Beautiful Skagit Co. Wa.

   Dennis

2. 
   Clay | Oct 11, 2004 04:33pm | #3

   I do not believe that there is anything which does exactly what you want.  I have been in the same situation and here is my solution.  I used a transparently pigmented deck stain with a sort of orangey yellowish hue.  I added some clear polyurethane (Minwax) to it to get additional durability and more gloss.  I prefinished by spraying and then added another brushed on coat after installation.  The pigments help to limit UV damage and also replace the natural colors which will fade.  By using them in a quite transparent formulation I keep a pretty natural look.  Because of the sheltered location of the ceiling I can use more varnish than the deck finish originally had included and expect longer service life.  This job has been up for about eight to ten years and still looks very nice (almost new) today.  By prefinishing I was able to also seal the back side of the wood (in my case it was fir, rather than cedar).  Obviously you do not still have the option to do that now, but I still think the formula that I used will serve you well.  I added about 25% Minwax gloss polyurethane to my deck stain and mixed well.  Because the deck stains are quite thin to begin with and the Minwax poly is close to sprayable from the can I didn't do any additional thinning.  I sprayed about two coats on each side and then followed with an additional brush on coat on the show side after installation.  Since you are working with cedar instead of fir I would recommend that you choose a more reddish tan hue than my colors.  The same system will work with clear deck finish but you will not get the same durability from it and the colors will not hold up as well either.

1. 
   e2canoe | Oct 12, 2004 03:19am | #5

   Thanks Clay.  Isn't the UV protection provided by a stain the result of solids contained in it?  If so, the transparent stain won't provide any UV protection at all, no?

   Sounds interesting although I'm a bit nervous about mixing products.  Who know what kind of chemistry is going one when one does that.  Might affect long term life of the stuff.

   Can you tell me exactly which stain you mixed with the Minwax poly so that I can try out the exact same formula?

1. 
   Clay | Oct 12, 2004 06:36am | #6

   I am not nervous about mixing products at all ... I do it daily.  I have never had a bad result caused by an improper mix ... in fact in every case my mixes are designed to do an improved job, and they do too.  You can't duplicate the mix I made back then because some of the products are no longer formulated the same way.  I would use the Olympic Wood Protector Waterproofing Sealant (cedar tone) and the Minwax Exterior Polyurethane if I were doing it today.  These are very similar products to the ones that I used back then.  Olympic is made by the Minwax people too I believe.  In any case these are compatible products.  You don't want to use my formula on your deck because there is too much varnish in it and it is likely to be overly difficult to wash off when you need to redo it.  It will serve very nicely on the relatively protected surface of a porch ceiling though.  Both these products are available at Lowes if you don't have another source in mind.

1. 
   e2canoe | Oct 12, 2004 07:47pm | #8

   OK.  Thanks.  Sounds like you have a lot of experience with this stuff.  I'll try it out on a scrap piece this weekend to see how it looks (and to get the gloss to a level that I like).

1. 
   Clay | Oct 13, 2004 01:13am | #9

   Enjoy!!  It looks like a real pretty soffit.  I love the look of good wood.  The one I did was over a big corner porch and we made the corners at 45% for sort of an octagon look and then raised the center of the soffiit and ran the borders paralell with the edges and mitered at the corners.  We put ceiling fan and lights in the raised center.  It's a really nice porch!!  We even ran brick piers at the corners and lattice between the piers.

2. 
   e2canoe | Oct 13, 2004 03:15am | #10

   Wow.  Sounds nice.  I'll post pics of mine when I'm done.  Scrambling to finish it before it gets too cold (forecasting frost tonight!)