BGE Cypress Table-Information please

Grasshopper · June 2007

Within the last month or so my wife purchased me a BGE table from a BGE dealer. Cypress wood is confusing me. The dealer stating that the table does not need to be stained and/or have a finish coat applied. I do see that there are some major splinters in the wood and some major cracks. Is this normal for cypress, and is it recommended to finish the wood? The dealer stated someone did purchase a table and applied Thompson waterproofing to it and it ruined it. What are your thoughts and suggestions. Would the mothership be my best source of information?
Information and thoughts please. OH i am going to Omaha, Not too far from midstate Illinois.
Grasshopper

StumpBaby · June 2007

Grasshopper,[p]
hard to tell about the cracks. If'n they was excessive i'd think bout returning it. It's a call only you can make I think. As for a finish. Cypress is supposed to be fairly rot resistant and should turn to a nice grey color over time, but that won't help you with keeping it clean. I recently redid my wooden patio furniture. it nearly killed me, what with my back problems an all, but I'll tell you what..I used some of that Cabot, Australian tree oil stuff (don't remember the exact name)and it looks real nice, I went with the natural, which I think would be a good choice with Cypress, if it was me I'd want to keep the nice look of the cypress and put somethin on it that wouldn't darken it, would "pop" the grain, and provide some protection for sunlight, staining, and rain. I didn't want something that would just lay on the surface, I wanted somethgin that would soak in, like this oil stuff. I'll tell you what I only applied a single coat (as directed by the manufacturer, and it was a simple wipe-on, wipe off excess process, easy as pie)and it's rained pretty hard the last few days and the water just beads up on the surface, plus it doesn't feel oily, and looks semi-glossy natural like, not like a polyurathane would. I'd definitely consider this on the cypress table, as for the cracks, like I said, that's probably your call. I think I'd put up with a few, no wood is completely perfect, but a little more than a few and any "major" cracks and I'd be bringin it back. I'm sure it wasn't cheap, after all..[p]On a side note. I once dated a nakid artist. In the hot summer days she would grab her pencils, her easel, some paper..and go out in the hot sun, an sit nakid an draw flies.[p]StumpBaby

Whitetail · June 2007

Grasshopper,
Your dealer does not know much about wood. If it is cracked real badly you may want to take it back. As SB says only you can decide that. If you are going to keep it I would sand it down and finish it with something. A quick sand before you finish it will bring the wood back to life and remove any rough spots or splinters. I used spar urethane and I am happy with it. Others have had good success with oils.[p]You probably could leave it natural if you like a weathered look. Although I think Thompson’s is a poor product it certainly won’t ruin your table. [p]As I finished writing this one last thought comes to mind. Is the table already weathered? With no prep work putting Thompson’s on an already weathered table would not be good.

probe1957 · June 2007

Grasshopper,[p]I also used the Cabot stain. It did a nice job. I would not use Thompson's as it is widely considered to be not worth the effort.

BGE Cypress Table-Information please

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