sealing red oak for outside use

fishlessman

found two heavy red oak stools. could use them outside on the patio.  google says they will rot no matter what i put on them. any experience out there. i could fiberglass the top, marine epoxy, top with marine varnish?

nolaegghead

Make sure the wood is dry.  Clean it then sand.  (Optionally first coat with epoxy, cure, sand) then spar varnish, 2-4 coats sanding very lightly between coats.  

I don’t care what wood species it is, it you keep it dry it will be fine.  Spar varnish will protect from UV radiation which tears up epoxy and wood.

I have done this to a couple tables and they have held up great.  No matter how good you coat it, the coating will start failing after a certain amount of exposure.  But the outer layers will fail before the inner and you have plenty of warning before any wood damage occurs.

opaque coatings are the most durable but I love the natural look of wood

fishlessman

nolaegghead said:

Make sure the wood is dry.  Clean it then sand.  (Optionally first coat with epoxy, cure, sand) then spar varnish, 2-4 coats sanding very lightly between coats.  

I don’t care what wood species it is, it you keep it dry it will be fine.  Spar varnish will protect from UV radiation which tears up epoxy and wood.

I have done this to a couple tables and they have held up great.  No matter how good you coat it, the coating will start failing after a certain amount of exposure.  But the outer layers will fail before the inner and you have plenty of warning before any wood damage occurs.

opaque coatings are the most durable but I love the natural look of wood

thats what im thinking, treat it similar to a strip canoe.  google is against it, says it will suck up water and completely rot it in a year or two from the inside after putting a finish on it. ive heard its porous enough to blow bubbles thru it like a straw and not to even use it in bathrooms or near kitchen sinks

nolaegghead

Yep, like a wood strip canoe except you don't need the fiberglass cloth.

Eff google

HeavyG

The legs of the stool I would repeatedly soak in a wood hardener type of product a few times (I think MinWax made one) as that should help seal the grain/pores so the bottom of the legs will be less likely to sponge up any rain stnding on your patio. I'd also attach some feet to the bottoms of the legs so they are not standing directly in water. By "feet" I'm referring to those, typically plastic, things that screw or nail into the bottom of chairs so they glide smoothly over floors to prevent/lessen scratching.

EDIT:

This is the stuff I've used many years ago: https://www.amazon.com/Minwax-41700000-High-Performance-Hardener/dp/B000BPINKS/ref=asc_df_B000BPINKS/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167138874211&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7299483074862088581&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9008542&hvtargid=pla-309606672892&psc=1

fishlessman

HeavyG said:

The legs of the stool I would repeatedly soak in a wood hardener type of product a few times (I think MinWax made one) as that should help seal the grain/pores so the bottom of the legs will be less likely to sponge up any rain stnding on your patio. I'd also attach some feet to the bottoms of the legs so they are not standing directly in water. By "feet" I'm referring to those, typically plastic, things that screw or nail into the bottom of chairs so they glide smoothly over floors to prevent/lessen scratching.

has feet on it already. they are built heavy like in a 1970's hs wood shop class.