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Best wood / treatment for external wooden seats ?


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I need to re-make the two wooden seats on the stern of the semi-trad, and was wondering the best wood to use and how best to treat it to withstand the elements. The original seats were left out all year round for the first 2 or 3 years and were varnished. This had cracks in it which let the water in and started the demise of them, so want to start again with the most appropriate wood and treatment.

 

I do have offcuts of 40mm oak worktop, which would be good if Oak is a good choice of wood - but would (wood !) it be better to Oil them (regularly) or varnish them with some external, weather-proof varnish, for longest life / least maintenance ?

 

Thanks,

 

Nick

Edited by Nickhlx
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The best timber for this type of use is Iroko. An African hardwood which is readily available from local merchants and has been a popular boat building material for years. It has an oily nature which means it must be glued with and epoxy system for best results.

I have some garden furniture made fron it which has been on my soggy lawn for twenty years without any sign of rot, even left without treatment it will show small surface cracks but no deterioration!. Only Teak has a higher reputation (at about 5 times the cost) it looks good under a coat of exterior varnish but you need to allow longer drying time since the oil content affects the varnish.

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I'd say iroko or teak. Both these woods seem to he quite happy with no treatment altough it goes a bit grey - depends what your attitude to cosmetic appearance is.

 

I definitely would not use a worktop offcut if it is made of oak staves. It will almost certainly start to warp and separate if left out in the weather.

 

Mahogany is another OK wood to use - perhaps an old windowsill or something if its big enough ?

Another way would be to find an old garden bench (preferably battleship teak) and take the slats off to make the seats. That would give a nice appearance. I assume the seats are inside the semi trad stern enclosed area and not those ones people put beside the tiller on vertical posts. The latter are very dangerous but that's another topic !

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sadolin is the best treatment for wood in my experience

Only if you get the original. The new Sadolin, available at all good DIY barns is water based and on external woodwork (like my deck board) is virtually gone after 18 months.

 

I intend to try Le Tonkinous on it this year.

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