Wait 4-6 weeks...

[grd]

I've (been) volunteered to build a bench seat to go round a tree at my daughter's kindy. I'm at the stage where all I have to do is screw it together then oil it. I wandered over to our local big green shed to look for likely candidates to oil it with (cost being a major factor, neither I nor the school have a lot of cash to spend).

I'll probably go for a jarrah decking stain (I understand that this contains protective UV blockers). Many of the products on the shelf recommended waiting 4-6 weeks after putting the bench in place before treating it. Can anyone tell me why this is? The bench currently has a lovely colour and I'd like it not to loose too much of that before treatment. Also, as it'll be at a kindy, it'll be treated like everything else - climbed on, jumped on and possibly peed on. I'd rather not have to spend hours sanding muck back before I get to treat it.

The attached picture is what it looked like earlier this week (when I'd just placed things in position).


Graeme

[rustynail]

The idea is to allow the timber time to deep surface dry for a better soak in of the surface finish.
Your reasons for not adhering to this timeline is quite justified. One has to weigh up the fores and againsts in these situations. If it was me, I would give it a few coats during the manufacture if possible and a final on instalation.

[Enfield Guy]

Ditto

[rhancock]

When I did my deck I was told to wash it with deck wash, then nappy san to help get the tannins out of the timber.

[grd]

then nappy san to help get the tannins out of the timber.

Nappy san? It's not been peed on yet!

I'll go with oiling it now and re-oiling in a few weeks time. Thanks for the advice guys. Once that's done it's time to start on cutting up old gas tanks and bottles to use as drums and bells, then welding up some flowers to go on the end of scaffolding poles that are acting as speaking tubes from one end of the garden to the other. Once all that's done I'm going to chain and gag my wife so she can't find any other inspiration for stuff for me to make nor volunteer me on my behalf


Graeme

[rhancock]

The only time it'll be sterile if my kids day care is anything to go by!

From memory, the nappy san is to counteract the effect of the deck wash, which is an acid of some sort...?

[grd]

I installed the bench at the weekend and oiled it with Cabot's jarrah decking oil straight away, and my wife oiled it again last night when she went to pick up our daughter. I'm quite happy with the end result, so thanks for everyone's advice. Picture attached below (I hope)

[acmegridley]

That will be a great spot to sit and eat your sambos at little lunch or lunch,especially in summer.

[Lyle]

Oh dear! are those concrete stepping stones near the bench and no 'softfall' material??
No doubt the OH&S dogooders will have a field day.

Seat looks great. Really nice job.

[grd]

Oh dear! are those concrete stepping stones near the bench and no 'softfall' material??
No doubt the OH&S dogooders will have a field day.

Apparently the gaps will all be filled with various springy plants. There's about 3 miles of retic (or at least the volunteers putting it in made it sound like that much) so it should stay alive once it's in.

Seat looks great. Really nice job.

Thanks, I'm quite chuffed with it. One of my sisters saw it and asked if it would hold my weight. Cheeky cow. It's one of my typical over-engineered products that could carry an elephant and could last 30 years - 1½"x8" planks held together with ½" bolts. It was a bugger to get in the trailer, even in two pieces.

[Lyle]

Mate I was only joking, I hope I didn't come across as anything but.
I like the bench and I know the kiddies will too. Something new to sit/climb/jump on.

Lyle.

[grd]

Mate I was only joking, I hope I didn't come across as anything but.
I like the bench and I know the kiddies will too. Something new to sit/climb/jump on.

Lyle.

No problem, I didn't take it as anything other than a joke. I'm not sure I've ever heard OH&S referred to in anything other than a joke or a complaint. The rest of us talk about common sense and keeping all your fingers attached (or at least most of them).

Now that I've finished the bench, I've been given my next task for the school - make bells out of gas bottles. My wife charmed/nagged into submission someone at Air Liquide who gave us 5 failed gas bottles. When she went back to pick them up (to give them time to decommission them) they'd already cut them in two and ground the edges! That saved me a ton of work! They sound great. All I need do now is weld up some stands then clean and paint them.

[Christos]

Well done on the completed job. I was following just not sure what I could reply when you first posted the question.

[strangerep]

(Sigh.) Didn't see this thread until now....

What a waste of all that tender loving care and effort. There simply is no long-lasting exterior timber finish. I never cease to be amazed at the claims
the manufacturers of such products are allowed to get away with.

A horizontal surface that's out in the full sun and rain will degrade in mere months, and look really bad within a year. Even the super-expensive top-of-the-line 2-pack marine varnish only gives you a few good-looking years.

(Didn't know whether to post this at all, since it's too late now, but people keep making this mistake with exterior timber over and over again....)

[grd]

What a waste of all that tender loving care and effort.

Not sure about that; towards the end it was more "sod it, that'll have to do" as it was only one of many jobs that need done.

A horizontal surface that's out in the full sun and rain will degrade in mere months, and look really bad within a year. Even the super-expensive top-of-the-line 2-pack marine varnish only gives you a few good-looking years.

I'm quite happy to re-oil it every few months, or rather, get my wife to re-oil it. When she picks the kids up on a Friday she can give it a quick once over. It might not look perfect, but I'm not after perfection, just durability with a reasonable appearance. The photo up there somewhere^^^^ probably makes it look like it has a bit of a better finish than it actually does. Other than the oil, the only work the unfinished planks had done to them was running over my Carbatec 10" planer. I'm just thankful I got the model with the tungsten carbide spiral head cutter rather than standard blades. That bench dulled one of the four sides of the cutters. I'd have probably had to sharpen normal blades a dozen or more times.