My wife has just “ordered” a storage cabinet for the pool area to store the various and sundry pool items. We live in South Florida where the heat and humidity takes its toll on anything outdoors, but expecially wood. I’m interested in others’ experience with designs, woods, and finishes that have held up well over the years. This item will be under the eave of the house so it won’t be directly exposed to the rain / sun.
Thanks.
Terry
Delray Beach, FL
Replies
WEST System epoxy using the 207 special coatings hardener (designed for sunlight exposure) as a sealer, then sand and topcoat with marine varnish - will last a long long time under an eave. Use epoxy for any solid wood joints like face frame, but avoid solid wood in exterior application to avoid movement which would crack the sealed finish, unless you use an exterior grade oil finish. PL Premium polyurethane construction adhesive is superior for ply joints. Don't edgeband the ply edges with hot-melt banding - glue solid.
If you like solid wood, then redwood, western cedar, white cedar, or Ipe is good, but I'd go with Superply exterior plywood by Roseberg Forest Products and stain the face veneers (Luaun or Spanish cedar) - will look like mahogony. Avoid exterior "AC Fir" ply - looks like **** with the football patches. I made the hull of my boat with Superply and it looks like a Chris Craft. White porch enamel/polyurethane is best UV blocker if you don't care about the wood look. Epoxy seal either way.
Make sure to add metal feet or castors to keep the cabinet from contacting the ground.
- JB
"The furniture designer is an architect." - Maurice DuFrenes (French Art Deco furniture designer, contemporary of Ruhlmann)
http://www.pbase.com/dr_dichro http://www.johnblazydesigns.com
Tell me more about that epoxy "designed for sunlight exposure." Is it a penetrating formulation? Will it hold up by itself with occasional sunlight exposure, or does it still need a UV-blocking topcoat?"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." A. Einstein
http://www.albionworks.net
It still needs a UV blocking varnish. Look up WEST System on the web - lots of studies and info on the homepage pertaining to the 207 hardener.
"The furniture designer is an architect." - Maurice DuFrenes (French Art Deco furniture designer, contemporary of Ruhlmann)
http://www.pbase.com/dr_dichro http://www.johnblazydesigns.com
Yes, some good information there. I have a technical info request in to them about a penetrating formula, because I don't want a thick film finish on this project.
They are mainly addressing boat-builders, where the exposure is waaay worse than what I am looking at. My stuff will get a few hours of sun in a month, on average.
Maybe I should just soak a white oak scrap in some epoxy and leave it outside for a few weeks, see what happens.
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." A. Einstein
http://www.albionworks.net
Edited 6/27/2004 7:44 pm ET by AlbionWood
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