I found a set of plans for a picnic table that I like and would like to build one next weekend. Does anyone have any input on what type of wood to use for longest life? I built a table with my father years ago out of pressure treated pine and it is still in great shape. Should I be concerned about using PT or can I use pine and seal it every couple of years? What about redwood? The plans that I found where from the California Redwood Association but I am concerned about the cost of redwood and the availibilty of it here in Maine.
Thanks,
Chris
Replies
Use redwood. It lasts. Finish it with spar varnish if you'ld like (I do - I like the natural wood apperarance - not the aged grey look). Needs to be refinished about once a year. I have one that's 12 years old. It still is in very good condition. It will probably outlast me.
Rich
Redwood is great stuff, but you might be able to find an eastern wood that would be similarly durable. I believe cypress is supposed to be a good outdoor project wood, and that would come to you from your side of the States.
What you spend up front will probably be saved over the life of the table -- taking Rich's example it's easy to see how the money spent in the beginning saves time and money down the road.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
I built one last year using pressure treated post foe the legs and framing grade pine for the rest. I did finish it with a few coats of
Spar varnish though. Looks like it's going to last for years and was
cheap to build,
GTF
Chris, you might want to check out some local saw mills there in Maine for northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis.) It's the most decay resistant softwood native to your region and should be relatively inexpensive. It's soft, easy to work and often used for exterior projects like this.
You might see if you can find some of that black locust like Frank Biscardi is building his porch deck with. Red mulberry and ossage orange are other woods that will probably last as long as pressure treated and will look nice under a varnish coat. All of these have traditionally been used a fence posts so if you can find them in local mills they may be already cut to 4X4 and would need to be resawed on the band saw. However, the white cedar will make a much lighter, easier to move around table, than the three hardwoods mentioned.
BJGardening, cooking and woodworking in Southern Maryland
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