finishing exterior timbers

I will be cutting and raising an exterior timber frame deck using fresh cut eastern hemlock and northern white cedar. I am looking for advice on finishing. Brands? Recipes? Can I apply finish on green wood? How to handle end grain? Any comments and suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

Hi Mark,

I have reread an old thread several times:

http://www.tfguild.org/ubbcgibin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=12;t=000004

There might be more too, if you use the search engine.

I'm not much of a finish guy, but for ends I've had great luck with anchorseal.

All the best,

Zach

Thanks Zach,

I read the thread and it seems that no one specifically addressed green exterior timbers, although there is plenty of good info for interior applications. Does anyone have any ideas for exterior, green hemlock and cedar? I checked with Sherwin Williams to see and they claim I cannot apply any of their finishes to green wood - it must be dried first. I'd like to use something relatively natural, but I'm willing to use whatever will work. Any ideas?

try a google on
"landark wood finish"

although I do not see a site for landark itself.....

I work wood, green and otherwise, and I think all would agree that putting a surface finish on recently harvested timbers will be a pretty frutsrating process. the main issue is that the moisture in the green wood will be moving to the drier surface and pushing any surface sealer out of the way to get there. Conventional wisdom is to let green timber air dry until it reaches a rough equilibirum with the atmosphere. The relative humidity will of course vary from area to area and seasonally, and equlibrium is also different for different species of wood. The Wood handbook, published by the US Forest Service and available for sale on this site has useful information on these points.

Sealing the ends of the timber immediately after harvest is important, however, because it will prevent overly rapid drying - and the resulting cracking and splitting of the timbers - during the drying process. If you could cut or purchase the timber, seal the end grain, and keep them covered but allow the air to circulate around them for a year or so before you built your structure that would be best. Otherwise I think they will tend to dry and split most on the sides facing the sun and wind.

Bottom line, if you can't coat the end grain, sticker and cover the timbers for a year before using so that they will be air dried, I would paint the end grain and build it, then wait a year or so before staining and sealing.

Thanks for the advice - it looks like I'll be building this year and sealing next year, after it has a chance to dry out.

Mark,

I'm curious how this ended up working out for you? Did you have any issues waiting for a year to seal it?

I have also been wondering about this question, I am building a gazebo and wonder how best to protect it from the weather. There is a lot of products and a lot of information out there but it is hard to know what to believe every company claims to have found the perfect solution, if anybody has any advice I'd appreciate it. I tried the thread listed above but the link seems broken.

Thanks

I had been looking up Heritage natural finishes and I like the idea of a natural product, has anybody had any experience with theirs?

Heritage is great stuff. But any finish outside is going to take annual maintenance. Especially horizontal surfaces.

In no way "organic" but I like Sikkens SRD (Siding/Rail/Deck) oil stain. I use the "teak" color for an aged look.

Many products today are water-based, and the old fashioned oil base types are hard to find. But most people will say oil is superior, being a penetrating finish rather than a surface film. Sikkens SRD is a high quality product with traditional attributes.

For shipping to "low VOC" states Sikkens is formulated with less thinner, and penetrates less well, but restoring some mineral spirits helps fix that.

P.S. Don't leave any oily rags around the shop! On a hot day Sikkens or linseed oil will light them up in less than an hour.

I would let them dry if they're inside. Otherwise when the timbers are stacked you can use paint thinner or a mineral spirits to surface dry the wood and allow the paint to setup properly. OF course with any sap wood it will need to go somewhere.

Ideally most woods dry 1ft per year sadly