Exterior WR Cedar

[DavidC]

What do you guys recommend sealing and finnishing Western Red Cedar Windows and Doors with.

Would you use just an oil or I've seen the new Wattyl Ext Varnish
designee for this, only thing is its Gloss finnish.

Currently Im using Sikkens

[markharrison]

Paint! WRC is not what it used to be and none of the transparent finishes (including marine finishes) will last more than a few short years before they need touching again unless they are all very well sheltered from the weather.

I have repaired every window in this house (and there's a s**t load of them) over the past couple of years. The only positive thing I can say about clear finishes is that you can see where the rot is sooner...

[johnc]

There is the odd post floating around on this topic. We have completely redone the house after many years of oils etc. Found something far better than Sikkens, oil based undercoat, water based undercoat over that then two coats of solar guard or similar on top of that. Inside we used danish oil as a base to restore some colour then topped in poly' first windows where completed 10 years ago and are still looking good, which beats oiling them at least once a year to find rot in a couple after only 12 years.

For what its worth unless the windows have some protection from the elements either a wide veranda etc I really would give up trying to retain the natural timber look on the outside.

John