Still use cedar for painted outdoor furniture?

[mikefm101]

Hi,

I'm making some Adirondack chairs for the patio this week.

Plan is to paint them for a few reasons.

I had planned to use cedar, but as they'll be painted is that really necessary? Could less expensive pine be used instead, or is cedar still superior and of benefit over painted pine?

Thanks, Mike

[daddo]

mikefm101 said:

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Hi,

I'm making some Adirondack chairs for the patio this week.

Plan is to paint them for a few reasons.

I had planned to use cedar, but as they'll be painted is that really necessary? Could less expensive pine be used instead, or is cedar still superior and of benefit over painted pine?

Thanks, Mike

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I've been using pine (mostly scraps or what I can find) for a while and have had no problems with them on the patio under a roof, but they still get wet during a windy rain.
Cedar wasn't strong enough for me.
I water down latex paint and stain the wood, then apply 3 coats of poly. I use titebond II and deck screws.

I did just make one to sit under a tree in the back and it has been holding up fine. I saved an old tire, cut the rubber off to fit under the legs to keep the wood off of the ground. It makes a good non-skid and forever footing and is about 3/8" thick.

Be sure and sand and seal the ends of the boards well.

If it will sit outside permanently and you get a lot of rain and want it to last a long long time, cedar (painted if you like or treated once in a while with a seal) or redwood would be good.

[JR1]

Pine will work so long s you don't try to use cheap latex.. SW A100 can be just about any color and will last well.

[daddo]

JR1 said:

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Pine will work so long s you don't try to use cheap latex.. SW A100 can be just about any color and will last well.

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What do you think?
I use watered down plain old latex that soaks well into the wood then clear coat it well with poly. Does poly hold up as well as a good latex? Being sealed with poly, is the latex better protected?

I haven't had any problems with that chair on the left (second pic and 3 years old) and it sits in the sun some and gets pretty wet at times. No peeling or whiting. Just a little patina that looks good.

[JR1]

The poly protects the latex. If you use a modern paint like SW or BM there is no reason to muck about with latex. It just gives you a failure prone coating that needs protection. Further if the latex fails for whatever reason You will need to strip the piece to fix it. AFAIK A100 is available in any of these colors .
BTW A100 has a lot of UV inhibitors if you use any old poly over latex UVcan cause the underlying latex to decompose.

[Pink Floyd]

If you seal out moisture, which paint will do, then you can use any wood you like. No moisture = no decay. There is no such thing as "dry rot."

[daddo]

Pink Floyd said:

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If you seal out moisture, which paint will do, then you can use any wood you like. No moisture = no decay. There is no such thing as "dry rot."

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I've always had a problem with the word "pre". As in; "I pre-drilled the holes". You whether drilled the holes or you didn't.

Maybe I'm wrong- perhaps I should pre-think it over.

[Dumb_Polack]

Daddo-

I hear ya

"we will now pre-board the aircraft"

What the hail is that???? Either you board or you don't board the aircraft.

What is pre-board??? Zat a practice run? Folks get on the plane, sit down and then get off a gain??

[Phil S.]

I built a couple of these Morris chairs out of 1X4 #2 common -



Painted them with latex and the have been out on the deck year round for 3 years with no problem and we average 60+ inches of precip a year.

(Ya - it is originally a picture of the plane, but it's the only one I had of the chair)

[Doug_H]

The wood does matter, at least if it's radiata pine.

Once upon a time I agreed with the posts above that say, in effect, <<if you seal out moisture it doesn't matter what wood you use, but be sure to use good paint.>> So I made a pair of nice Adirondack chairs out of clear radiata pine and finished them with multiple coats of top quality one-part boat paint. The chairs were outside in Florida year round. They started to rot in about 2 years. Water seeped into the end grain and the wood disintegrated rapidly. I know I painted the end grain but it was not enough to prevent the seepage. The chair legs were made of pressure treated SYP and they showed no sign of rot.

I had made chairs of the same design out of cypress, finished with Epifanes Marine spar varnish about two years earlier. They are still sound today, although the finish is now starting to fail after 6 yr or so.

If you are going to paint the chairs, consider SYP , especially PT for the parts that will be in contact with the ground. The downside of PT is that you need to let it dry first, which can take months. Other than that, it's about price. When I lived in Florida, cypress was my best choice of outdoor furniture. Now, in Colorado, it's redwood.

Doug