A very good friend here in Cincinnati, Ohio has asked my help with his weathered unfinished teak furniture. Paper wasps have begun feasting en masse on the weathered surface for raw wood to make their nests. The nibbling leaves .5-1″ tracks of lighter wood all over the furniture. He was advised to sand the teak, apply an oil stain, and then topcoat with a urethane finish to repel the foraging wasps. I’d rather not put on a surface finish prone to chipping and cracking if at all possible. Does anyone have any experience with this situation? Thanks.
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Replies
Not sure but I think a Borate based product that is absorbed into the wood will work.. Of course they have to eat it to kill them but by then it is to late to save the wood..
Not sure how safe it is either... If it were me I'd go looking for that BIG old paper nest... Surprising how big those next can get and easily hidden in a thee.. I have had HUGE ones I never saw until winter and all the leaves were gone..
... BE VERY careful of them suckers... They can fly REALLY fast!
Don,
Yes, in answer to your question....
Sanding will be in order, I'd recommend against staining. If your friend likes the wheathered look of Teak, 'bout the only thing that will prevent the wasps is a Teak dressing used by the marine crowd, there are several products out there. The provisio, though, is that it will look newly oiled for awhile and really is an annual or bi-annual maintenance procedure for those folks. If he is insists on the wheathered look, he will have to put up with the initial look of the dressing and just "stay on top" of the wasp situation with a pesticide....
On the other hand, if your friend wants to preserve the natural color of the Teak he can either go with the above or go with a high quality marine grade varnish. Again, there will be occasional maintenance. I'm originally from your neck o' the woods and my experience with Teak outdoor furniture varnished with a high quality marine spar is 3-5 years between refinishing can be even longer depending on how well the furniture is taken care of...FWIW.
Dano
I like Dano's answer better en' mine.. But Varnish take maintenance! Geee. Like my old boat!
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