Best Finish For Outdoor Cedar Furniture

Cedar is one of the few woods that will be just fine outdoors without any input from man.

Best finish for outdoor cedar furniture.

Best 5 clear cedar finishes for outdoor in 2020 1. Exterior varnish or urethane. Prior to applying new finish scrub the surface with a cleaner containing an oxidizing agent such as bleach. Factory priming as the name implies is performed in an industrial setting where a machine coating process applies a coating to all six sides of each board.

Epoxy with exterior varnish. For smooth planed flat grained cedar some surface preparation may be desirable. Indoor cedar furniture should use a clear coat polyurethane as this will give the wood a smooth and shiny finish. Exterior finishes for siding and trim factory finishing priming for optimum performance the wrcla recommends that western red cedar is pre primed or pre finished prior to job site delivery.

Surface preparation is not necessary for textured cedar. An exterior oil finish is definitely the simplest quickest way to treat an outdoor project. It will age and turn gray. They shed water for a year or so before requiring reapplication.

Indoor and outdoor cedar furniture are stained the same way. Use stainless steel hardware and waterproof adhesives whenever you can. On flat grained wood the surface should be scuff sanded with 50 60 grit sandpaper. This procedure will greatly increase the coatings performance but will not detract from a smooth finish.

On the downside it will only give you. Cedar will also outlast any finish you put on it. It will last forever. Left to itself cedar will age naturally to a handsome silver gray patina with the occasional darker streak it is a random natural process after all.

For a natural look penetrating oil finishes might be your best bet. Howard citrus shield paste wax suitable for finished and unfinished wood ability to bring back the natural color with. By mark schofield may 13 2009 in the article torture test for outdoor finishes fww issue 205 one of the best finishes was the combination of a penetrating epoxy sealer under epifanes marine varnish. Outdoor cedar furniture should be finished with a wood sealer as this will give the wood a much better protection against rain and moisture.

However clear coat polyurethane which gives the wood a shiny smooth finish should only be used on indoor furniture. Thompsons waterseal advanced natural wood protector easy to use waterproof mildew growth uv damage and fading. Your glue and screws nails will not though. Cedar furniture left unfinished works best in climates that don t encourage decay.