Red Oak or Cedar

Unknown · November 2009

I will be building my table pretty soon and it seems like most of y'all build your table out of cedar.

I plan on relying heavily on the Naked Whiz table plan and see that he used Oak.

Hopefully this table wil last a while, so if oak is better, I won't hesitate to use it, but if not, then I would rather save the money.

And the cedar that I see in Home Depot and Lowes has one side that is unfinished/rough. Is that the norm? Do you just put the rough side down?

Deadskins · November 2009

Another option is use decking that matches your deck. In my case, I build a new deck and later rebuilt my table using the extra AZEC decking.

http://www.azek.com/azek-deck/

To make it cooler I had a piece of granite left from when I had granite installed in the kitchen and they cut the hole out for the stove top. I kept the granite piece and then took it back to the granite shop when rebuilding my table. They cut the piece and did the edges to match the whole in my table. Now, I can place very hop stuff and greasy stuff on it without worrying about damage.

Serial Griller · November 2009

Don't use that home depot #$@*&.
Go to a lumber yard and get some nice wood that is smooth on three sides.
Here's a picture of one made of cedar. It will hold up as good as anything and cheaper than oak . Use a urethane spar finish.

and don't forget about safety check out this link
http://www.nakedwhiz.com/eggbase/eggbase.htm
Good luck with your table

Unknown · November 2009

yeah, I just went to the local Home Depot, and their cedar planks look like crap. Went 4 miles down the road to Lowes, and their cedar planks looks like crap.

I will try to find a lumber yard. If anyone knows of a good one north of Dallas, let me know.

I am getting the BGE for my 5th wedding anniversary (wife gets diamond earings.....whatever :blink: )
and I would like to have the table completed before I get it in a week or two.

Your table looks nice, btw.

JCinGA · November 2009

Egguest,
If you do find the cedar you are looking use Minwax's Clear Sheild. It has a better resistance to UV rays than Spar Urethane. True Value hardware stores carry it , Lowes and Home Depot do not. I've had to order it on line from Amazon.

Kokeman · November 2009

I made mine out of cedar. with tree coats of spar.

Petie · November 2009

If your table will see any exposure to weather, you need to use white oak, NOT red oak. Red oak is extremely pourous and will suck up water, discolor and rot quickly even though it is a strong wood. White oak is commonly used to make wine and liquor barrels and holds up well. Cyprus - another commonly recommended wood - tends to mildew.

Unknown · November 2009

I went with the cedar.

Much less expensive and during my research, I didn't see anyone saying red oak was appropriate for outdoor use.

I did use the stainless steel screws, though.

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Red Oak or Cedar

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