# Rustic cedar garden bench



## sprior (Aug 31, 2008)

I made this cedar garden bench out of two cedar trees cut down on my property. Leaving the legs natural just popped into my head while I was looking at one of the logs deciding how to cut it up. The joints are done with Tightbond III and then screwed with deck screws (not supposed to rust), with 3" screws going through the sides into the 2 1/2" tenons on top of the legs. The top slats are all screwed into the 4 cross pieces. I plugged all screw holes with cedar plugs from the same wood, so no screws are exposed anywhere.

It's rustic looking but completely solid to sit on.

What's still up in the air is whether to preserve it with anything or not. It's going outside and I'd like it to last as long as possible, but I'm not sure whether to try to keep the color or let it go gray. I emailed Minwax about their Spar Urethane product and they responded that I shouldn't use their water based version until it's been exposed for 6 months because of the oils. Not sure if their oil based version would be better.

So what do you folks think - preserve it or natural, and if so with what? It's eastern red cedar.

Thanks
Steve


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

sprior said:


> . . .
> What's still up in the air is whether to preserve it with anything or not. It's going outside and I'd like it to last as long as possible, but I'm not sure whether to try to keep the color or let it go gray. . . .
> So what do you folks think - preserve it or natural, and if so with what? It's eastern red cedar.


If it's going to be outside but not under cover, your biggest problem is the sapwood that's left on the legs - ERC sap will eventually rot when it's touching other surfaces and is allowed to get wet. 

If you keep a thick coat of the oil based Minwax spar urethane around that joint underneath, that will delay the tendency to rot. If the bench is going to be beneath a cover then you won't have to worry about it. 

Regardless of the sap issue, yes the oil based minwax spar can be used on ERC within a couple weeks of the wood being sawn esepcailly during the summer - it fries out fast. Minwax is right though about the water based, it will get milky and can even start to peel as the resin in ERC seeps out in places. 

I don't like the gray that ERC turns so for me I would finish it with something even if just deck/siding stain. I've experimented with many many differents brands and even homemade concoctions of water repellent stains, and the McCloskey brand which is a cheap brand you can get at - ahem - Wal Mart I hate to admit, performs better than anything I've found. I used it on our house and I am thrilled with the performance. We sided our house with board on board ERC. This is the Redwood stain made by them 










The big advantage of using this on your bench would be the ease of reapplication in a couple years. After it starts to gray a little, not need to powerwash or strip, just apply another coat and it brings out the color almost like new. 

HTH


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## sprior (Aug 31, 2008)

I just went to Wallyworld and picked up a can of the McCluskys wood preservative in cedar color. The other reason this would be easy to replicate in a few years is that I ended up with a whole gallon of the stuff! They didn't sell quart sizes and the whole gallon costs about the same as a quart of the Minwax options, and my wife fusses with me about getting rid of stuff I don't need to keep. I'll probably end up using what I need for this project and Freecycling the rest of the can.

Now the big question I probably should have asked before - once this stuff is dry will it still rub off on the clothes of anyone sitting on the bench?


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## hancockj (Jul 2, 2009)

That is a really nice bench Steve. The legs look great. I did go with the Spar Urethane myself for my chairs. Would you post a picture on here after you put the finish on? I am curious to see.


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

sprior said:


> Now the big question I probably should have asked before - once this stuff is dry will it still rub off on the clothes of anyone sitting on the bench?


After it dries it won't rub off. I've never applied it to a sitting application, but before I answered you I just went and rubbed a clean white rag to various areas of the siding including knots and the only residue on the rag was some splinters and dust. To be safe I would put down a white towel the first few times you sit on it, or sit on it with painter's pants until you're sure it's completely dry. 

If you leave it in the sun for a few days after applying it, it won't take long to dry. The porous ERC and the heat will make quick work of it.


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## Streamwinner (Nov 25, 2008)

Nice looking bench.


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## sprior (Aug 31, 2008)

All done and outside. I finished it with the McCluskys Cedar preservative from Wally World. It added a lot of yellow color so everything is much more reddish than the original purple, but for this I think that's OK.


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

sprior said:


> All done and outside. I finished it with the McCluskys Cedar preservative from Wally World. It added a lot of yellow color so everything is much more reddish than the original purple, but for this I think that's OK.


That's why I posted the picture of our siding so you could see how it changes the color. I wish there were a finish that would preserve the original beauty of the wood and not change it much, but there just isn't. 

I've tried everything I could get my hands on and for an exterior application ERC is not going to stay the same no matter what you use. And the closer to the original that a finish leaves the wood, the faster it's going to fade. 

For interior applications where it won't get much or any sunlight, the fade takes much longer to occur but even it will eventually darken and change hues. But at least it won't turn gray like it would if the sun were hitting it. 

You should hit your bench with one more good soaking in a couple of weeks - that'll extend the time between the need for another coat by a great deal. McCloskey makes a good product. 



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