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Durable Outdoor Finish? - YouTube
Channel: The Wood Whisperer
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(upbeat music)
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[Marc] - So you might recall this project.
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This is the rustic outdoor table
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and it looks even more rustic
than it did on day one.
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(birds squawking)
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I have to say I neglected
the finish on this.
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I think we just applied
like a teak oil product
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and it hasn't held up well
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and it really needed to be
applied at least yearly,
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but I didn't do that.
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We had another kid.
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Hey, I got a little helper today.
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I did actually get a chance
to refinish the benches.
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Those held up much, much better
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and probably just need a
new top coat at this point,
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but the key lesson here,
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outdoor finishes always
require additional maintenance.
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It's just the way it is.
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It's a way of life with outdoor furniture.
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So we will do a little rehab on this one.
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It doesn't take much to
remove the gray top layer
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and expose fresh wood fibers.
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Western red cedar grays
really nicely overtime
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so if you're into that weathered look,
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you might not want to sand the surface
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like I'm doing here.
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(slow upbeat music)
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To fill all the cracks and (mumbles)
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I'm using West System Epoxy.
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Unlike regular five minute epoxy,
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this stuff is loose enough
to pour into the small holes
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and cracks and it just soaks it right up.
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I could then use a putty
knife to spread the epoxy
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and push it further into the cracks.
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Though I didn't initially intend on it,
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it quickly became evident
that I get best results
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by simply coating the entire surface.
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Then I could just go back
with an irrigation syringe
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and force epoxy into the deepest cracks.
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The ends of the bread boards
were in really bad shape,
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so once the top surface was dry,
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I just tilted the table on its side
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and used some blue tape
to hold back the epoxy
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and let the end grain
soak up all it wanted.
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For the benches, I decided
to completely remove
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the previous finish.
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The wood under there
was in much better shape
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than the table.
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Once the epoxy was dry, I sanded it smooth
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with 80 grit paper.
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As you can see, even the base
required some epoxy fills
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here and there.
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At this point, it was pretty
fun posting pictures online
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and watching people freak out
about how I ruined this table,
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but as you can see after
some diligent sanding
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the top starts to look really nice.
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Now I can sand up to 180 grit
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and get ready for the
one two punch finish,
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epoxy sealer followed by marine varnish.
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I'm trying a new to me
epoxy sealer product
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called Total Boat Epoxy.
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Unlike similar sealers, such as CPES,
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this stuff has minimal odor and zero VOCs.
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Mixing is simple.
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Just use the ratio
markings on the mixing cup
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and apply liberally to the surface.
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For better absorption, you
can dilute with acetone.
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The product applies easily enough,
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but it didn't seem to soak
into the fibers as readily
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as CPES and it also took
a very long time to cure,
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like a week.
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Eventually, I was able to
lightly sand the surface
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with 180 grit in
preparation for the varnish.
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My varnish of choice is Epifanes.
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This stuff is super thick,
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so I like to dilute it
with mineral spirits
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by about 50% for the first couple of coats
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and the last few coats I
usually go down to 25%.
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You can apply this varnish like
any other oil-based varnish.
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I like using foam brushes
or natural bristle brushes.
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By the way, I should mention
that none of these products
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are inexpensive.
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These are marine quality finishes
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and they're made to survive
some pretty harsh conditions.
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It's a good investment for someone
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who really doesn't wanna
refinish furniture every year.
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The tabletop was the
biggest pain in the butt,
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primarily because I didn't
wanna bring the table
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into the shop.
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So my finishing schedule
was subject to the weather
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and yes this table did get
rained on a couple of times
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before I wised up and
covered it with a tarp.
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After each coat of
varnish, I sand the surface
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with 220 grit.
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Towards the end, I move up to 320 grit.
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I apply a full five coats of gloss varnish
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to all parts of the project
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at the rate of one coat
a day and in some cases
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only being able to apply
finish to one side at a time,
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you could see how a project like this
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might take weeks.
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The regular Epifanes product is high gloss
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and I'm not really a fan of high gloss,
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so I'm doing two more coats
of Epifanes Matt Wood Finish.
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Because I like to make things confusing,
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I pour the finish and dilute
it inside an empty can
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of the gloss product.
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Now check out how well this stuff works.
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I apply a nice even coat
and then after it dries
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the surface is just dead flat.
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I give the surface a quick
hand sanding with 320,
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vacuum off the dust and
apply a second coat of matt,
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which is the final coat of finish.
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All right, so was this a lot of work?
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Yes it was.
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It was a giant pain in my butt.
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It took a very long time
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dodging weather and just
the sheer number of coats
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of an oil-based finish like this,
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it just takes a long time,
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but in the end, it's totally worth it
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because now it's a very
easy to clean surface.
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I have no problem having
the family come out here
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and have dinner on this thing.
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There's no splinters and there's sort of
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a secondary benefit.
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The fact that I let this guy sit out
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in the weather for so long
means there were a lot of cracks
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and all those cracks are
now filled with epoxy
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and it gives this surface
a very unique look,
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one that would be difficult to replicate
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if you were trying to
create it from fresh wood.
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So you know, it's kind of got that sort of
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earned rustic character
that's difficult to replicate.
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But overall, I like it.
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It's got like splotchiness everywhere
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and it sort of really
lives up to that sort of
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rustic, not so rustic
thing that I was going for
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with the original build.
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All right, so I would say
the lesson learned here
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is you should probably
finish your projects
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properly the first time
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so that you don't have to
do a big do over mulligan
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like this, but if you do,
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there are ways to salvage a project
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even when it looks like it's in
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really, really bad condition.
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All right, thanks for watching.
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(slow upbeat music)
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Well how about that.
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Right on cue, it's
actually starting to rain
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so good thing I got
this umbrella in place.
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But even if I didn't, I think that finish
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is gonna hold up quite nicely.
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