I've got a nice oak slat park bench that I pulled from the trash and
fixed up with stainless fasteners and new wood a few years ago. The
problem now is mildew affecting the oak.
Originally I covered the wood with something called ClearThane (from a
"Wood You" store) which I assume is a thinner version of polyurethane
which works well on indoor furniture.
I would like some help with the next restoration. Besides the mildew the
wood is still good, so I'd like to use it, although I would guess teak,
cypress or cedar might be better.
My plan it to sand down the mildew and recoat it with something. With what
I don't know. I'm open to suggestions. Help appreciated.
Thanks,
Stan
If the bench is made from red oak it will not be very weather resistant. You
can paint the red oak with exterior house paint or something similar to give
it some weather protection. White oak is weather resistant and will give
you years of service. The white oak left unfinished will weather to a grey
color and be rot resistant for many years. If the ClearThane finish you
used on the bench is an interior polyurethane it will not hold up outside
due to the Ultra Violet rays that are in sunlight. If the finish you
applied has turned a dark brown or black, it probably has been degraded by
the UV sunlight. You will need to strip this old finish off and either leave
the wood bare or refinish with a finish that is formulated to be UV
tolerant. Spar varnish, or spar polyurethane are two top coats that will
work to varing degrees. If you apply a clear coat finish to the white oak
you will probably need to reapply it every year or every other year to
protect the wood. The white oak will probably darken over time even if a
clear coat finish is regularly applied to since the UV will also affect the
wood.
"Stan Mulder" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I've got a nice oak slat park bench that I pulled from the trash and
> fixed up with stainless fasteners and new wood a few years ago. The
> problem now is mildew affecting the oak.
>
> Originally I covered the wood with something called ClearThane (from a
> "Wood You" store) which I assume is a thinner version of polyurethane
> which works well on indoor furniture.
>
> I would like some help with the next restoration. Besides the mildew the
> wood is still good, so I'd like to use it, although I would guess teak,
> cypress or cedar might be better.
>
> My plan it to sand down the mildew and recoat it with something. With what
> I don't know. I'm open to suggestions. Help appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Stan
>
>