Best Varnish???

[ynotTony]

Hey guys,
Question about best varnish to use...i got to do outside windows and doors and some inside windows.

I am stuck between these three:

Feast Watson - Weatherproof
Intergrain - DWD
Cabots - Exterior clear

i want it to be hard wearing clear varnish and UV protection at the same (something i can also mix a stain with for a all in one job).

which one you think?

[ubeaut]

Would think that all would do the job well.

Have a friend who uses a Sicken exterior and he swears by it. Don't know the exact name of the finish but it has UV filter and apparently when it is re-coated in a few years the timber basically goes back to looking like brand new again.

From memory it wasn't cheap but he used it on every timber house he built and was more happy with this product than any other he had ever used.

Might be worth a look.

Cheers - Neil

[ptc]

any marine varnish.
not cheap.

[surfdabbler]

I used DWD on our deck and french doors a couple of years ago, with one coat of Intergrain dimension 4 as an undercoat, then 3 coats of DWD. Still looks brand new. I used Wattyl exterior gloss varnish for some lattice doors right at the front of the deck too, and that looks like new. Cabot's Exterior varnish and probably Feast Watson will be a very similar products to the Wattyl.

The deck is covered, and fairly well protected, but the doors are often in full sun. It's only been a couple of years, but they're all perfect so far.

Make sure the timber is well prepared, nice and clean before you start. If it's old, sand back to the wood. If it's new, I've heard to leave it sit for a few weeks, then give it a good sand, because sometimes the wood gets oil on it that will stop the finish from holding properly. Ours was there for a month before the builder was finished the project. Only then did I start work on finishing.

[Ashore]

Would think that all would do the job well.

Have a friend who uses a Sicken exterior and he swears by it. Don't know the exact name of the finish but it has UV filter and apparently when it is re-coated in a few years the timber basically goes back to looking like brand new again.

From memory it wasn't cheap but he used it on every timber house he built and was more happy with this product than any other he had ever used.

Might be worth a look.

Cheers - Neil

"Sickens cetol filter 7 "from memory , have used it with excellant results as with "wattyl exterior clear" both give a great finish and last well.

Rgds

[Bloss]

Yep Sikkens is the go - been using it for more than 30 years - only external finish that works IMHO.

See http://www.tenaru.com.au/ for info on their 'systems'.

I have been using Cetol HLS the oil-based stain (one or two coats) then 'Supernatural' on top (two coats). Then you can overcoat with just 'supernatural' every 5-6 years on north exposed wood (in Aust) or up to 10 years in more sheltered applications.

Mostly I have used on Western Red Cedar, but have had success on oregon (Douglas Fir) too. Windows, weatherboards etc. If you leave it too long to re-coat (eg: so that it has discoloured and/or is peeling) you have to strip back to bare wood, but when you do you will find the colour is still good and you redo with Cetol HLS and the finish coat. The newer Filter 7 looks good - I haven't tried yet though.

Not cheap, but good value for money.

[la Huerta]

i'v used feast watson weatherproof a lot, so nice to apply, and self leveling...good stuff!

[Justin]

I used DWD (three coats over dimension 4) on a fully exposed spotted gum deck. Very disappointed with it, it started breaking down from about six months onwards. Recoats looked poxy, not at all like rejuvenating the timber appearance under the finish. I also used it on Tas oak french doors (exposed as well), and wasn't too happy at all with the orange tint that the finish imparted on blonde timber.

I've heard that sikkens is a really good finish.

Next deck I do I'm thinking seriously about using oil, just so touchups won't be a new coat over a perished coat, but rather just sinking to the grain again for a uniform appearance.

Justin.

[John Moore]

Have a look at Lignol from Nanovations. Interesting technology.
http://www.nanovations.com.au/Wood.htm