Years ago I made a maple toilet seat, brushed on about 8 coats of polyurethane, looked great, just clear coated with no stain, within the next year the underside of both the seat and the cover were beginning to turn dark colors and/ black, obviously due to moisture penetration and mold formation. I'm now finishing up our basement, and want/need a rustic hickory toilet seat. Any advice as to what kind of finish to apply. Want just to clear coat it, with no stain. We do run a dehumidifier all summer, just natural evaporation from the toilet bowl caused problems before, help!!

I have seen wooden seats for sale (oak, I think) but never really paid much attention to the finish.

 

I wonder if it was more a factor of the wood than the finish. I've had maple really react to pipe clamps and other metal s when moisture was involved. Maybe hickory won't be so reactive. 

 

Also, maybe so sort of penetrating sealer before the poly but just guessing at all this information.

Edited December 10, 20178 yr by lew

Lew you might do what I did years ago. I was selling Mac Tools at the time and I knew this certain mechanic had a mold for a toilet lid and seat that he would make epoxy sets  and sell with flowers and  money and lots of things inside the epoxy as a conversation piece....As I was calling on the Buick house where he worked I ask him one day could he make a seat for me, sure, what do you want in it... A couple of rattle snakes, grass burrs, spiders and all kinds of things. He said you are in luck for my wife can go out and catch some rattle snakes and I'll let you know when we have finished.  

    Even back then I was expecting 200 bucks especially after seeing what they had made me...or at least close to that amount. ...What I said and the way I said it as if the price was too much, he stepped back and he him hawed around and said now Jess I don't ever argue price with you when I am buying tools from you. I have never tried to get you to come down on your prices and I thought 60 bucks was a good price to start with.  And besides my wife spent some time out there trying to get the exact length snakes and kept looking till she found two perfect specimens. I gave him 120 and said split it with your wife right down the middle, 20 for you and 100 for your wife since she did most of the hard work!!  They were in the sixties at the time and super nice folks and was around 1970

 

Then after my grand kids got old enough to set on the pot by themselves they would scream when they had to sit on the snake seat so I had to put the original one back on and stored it up on a shelf in my shop. Slamming the door made the toilet seat inch toward the edge and finally fell off and cracked when it hit the floor....This happened over 50 years ago and ever since then I been gonna fix the crack and put it back on but just been too busy. 

  Just think, you will be to only house in Arizona with a snake seat!

Edited December 10, 20178 yr by Smallpatch

Wow. I'd like to find a mold like that.  

That really is neat.....

Afraid if I saw that I'd be using the bushes out back!

But back to the wood seat..... I've had the same problem with two commercial oak seats turning gray, as well as the varnish splitting and peeling. How about two-part clear epoxy? It forms a rather thick layer, and SHOULD seal the wood against moisture penetration.

John

17 minutes ago, HARO50 said:

How about two-part clear epoxy?

I was also thinking of the stuff they use on bar tops. Maybe that's  the same as epoxy.

9 hours ago, lew said:

I was also thinking of the stuff they use on bar tops. Maybe that's  the same as epoxy.

The bar top stuff may be a different formulation but, that should work fine. 

I was thinking the bar top stuff also, just needed some second opinions

4 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

The bar top stuff may be a different formulation but, that should work fine. 

Not sure of the name, but you mix two components in a paper cup, and POUR it on. It was labelled as "Self-levelling", not brushed on. Haven't seen it in a while, but then, I haven't been looking!

John

That is what the snake seat was made with. 2 part epoxy and you should only pour about 1/8" thickness or less at a time till that sets up then pour again. Epoxy should only be mixed and poured when its  around 75 degrees. This handle dipped in epoxy about 3 years ago and wife puts it in the dishwasher and looks like the day I did it.

 

This came from Hobby Lobby but probably cheaper at Walmart. Handles don't come out flat but is smooth. It needs to be poured on flat a surface.

 You need to google it if you intend on trying it.

YouTube has a bunch of good videos on the techniques and cautions. Working with mesquite, I use epoxy often. But, only in really small batches.   

As most of you know, White Oak is the preferred wood for outside and moisture environments.  I would look for some Rift sawn White Oak and make a set.  Then, I would wipe on  about 4 coats of thinned  exterior grade poly with a used, clean  nylon sock.  Let cure for about a week, then rub out with 0000 steel wool and TreWax.  (Ace Hardware or Amazon.)

 

Larry Jenkins