# What finish for poplar outdoor furniture?



## Ronnie1a (May 24, 2009)

I just finished making some outdoor furniture out of poplar. A friend, who is more experienced than I, say to "always" use a pre-stain wood conditioner on this kind of wood. Is this sound advise? Picking the stain is not a problem but the finish is. General Finishes brand has a oil and urethane topcoat that you can rub on with a paint pad making it easy to apply. But they also have polyacrylic and a danish oil linseed oil finish. The furniture will sit outside on a covered porch. I am confused on which finish to use. Would appreciate any advise.


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## CharlesNeil (Jun 26, 2007)

im my opinion, use general finishes gel stain, its oil based , has alot of iron oxide , and since its a gel ,it will not blotch as much so a pretreatment isnt needed, dyes and stains are poor exterior stains, they fade fast , allow the stain to dry for 48 hours or more then apply GF exterior 450 , its a waterbase exterior finish, i like to light sand the stain , just a light wipe with some 600, to remove any fuzz, but go easy avoid corners and edges, they sand thru fast, again just a light wipe down with the 600 , then either spray or with a pad or foam brush apply the 450, soak the bottoms of the feet well, and if you really want to go the mile, wipe the feet bottoms with a light coat of clear epoxy after all is dry... I usually light sand with some 400 to 600 between coats of 450, and usually apply 3 coats


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## pianoman (Jan 16, 2008)

I made a poplar porch swing with galvanized screws and left it bare with no finnish at all!! It is now 15 years old and has a nice gray tone to it...and no cracks...it breathes! Rick


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