mivers

I build things that will be left outside year round, I am useing an Olympic deck and cedar finish that has Linseed oil as it's main ingredience, but one has to keep reappling it every so often or you loose the natual color of the wood, I have heard of other stuff to use but haven't tried them yet, has anyone have a preferance???
Thanks Mivers

JW_in_Indy

Everything outside is going to take a beating. UV is probably more responsible for damage than even the weather. If it's not something you are going to walk on, possibly a protective finish coat of marine varnish or spar urethane would give you more protection.

But, you are going to still need to hit it again after a few years. In which case, I'd think a varnish would be easier to work with (especially if any repairs of any kind are needed).

Otherwise, just plan on using something like Thompson's or Cabot's waterseal type product every year to keep things looking nice. There are many other products in this genre, but they all seem to be fairly similar. You can pretty much base the protection factor on the price. Generally speaking, the more expensive it is, the more solids and protection you're going to get.