There's a guy on a FB forum who has made the ubiquitous planter boxes from cedar pickets.  He says, "Customer wants them painted/stained black, and sealed with a polyurethane."   (Some of us) are trying to convince him that poly for an exterior finish and worse over paint, is a really bad idea.

Edited May 28, 20241 yr by kmealy

I'm pretty sure you're losing the debate, some folks can't get past "poly" being the do-all/everything finish. It still puzzles me why anyone thinks paint should be "protected".

Edited May 28, 20241 yr by Fred W. Hargis Jr

Yes, and people who think they are knowledgeable when they talk about their factory furniture  with a coat of "poly".

 

And people who think "spar poly" is such a great product.  The one time I used Helmsman, before I knew much about finishes, it lasted less than a year.

We built some of those ubiquitous planter boxes from cedar pickets. We used Olympic stain/sealer. They've been in the AZ Sun for 3 years with no problems. But, we painted the patio supports with Valspar Season Plus dark brown. Also exposed to the elements for 4 years. If the boxes had been painted also, I'm fairly sure they would have held up well.

 

 

 

 

Ya, stain/sealer on cedar is really a durable coating. Firstly Cedar is a pretty hardy outdoor lumber, then to coat it with a good stain/sealer like Gene did, it'll last years.

My experience with Eastern Red Cedar shows me that a sealer coat of shellac is essential to longevity. I made a box for the wife's flute and used poly for finish. Within a year the finish cracked like a dried up lake bed. I sanded that finish off and started again with the shellac filler and that finish is still working after over 25 years. 

Having only used aromatic cedar once, I suspect it and ERC are totally different animals from the species of which fence pickets are made. Consequently,  finishes would be also different, no?

The only use I've seen for the aromatic stuff is lining, like for cedar chests and closets (sometimes). As such it was never finished. Regardelss, I would also think it's a completely different animal...there must be a lot of oils in it for that aroma.

14 minutes ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

The only use I've seen for the aromatic stuff is lining, like for cedar chests and closets (sometimes). As such it was never finished. Regardelss, I would also think it's a completely different animal...there must be a lot of oils in it for that aroma.

Yeah, my use of thr smelly cedar was in a blanket chest. And, it was un finished...on the inside.

All I know is I've made planter boxes from the fence cedar the stuff last a long time.

This issue..AGAIN...what's next? More of that "Finish IN the Wood" stuff (cleaned that up)

 

Aromatic Red Cedar...

Made this almost 15 years ago..about a year or 2 BEFORE open heart surgery in 2011...

Some parts inside are Pine, or 1/4" plywood..the rest is solid ARC...with it's original Minwax Gloss Poly finish..Right now, it resides , all covered up, in the Bedroom.  Only the 2 Bottom drawers are real, top one is a fake.  Poly on the outside only..left the insides to smell the place up...

 

Dad taught me HOW to use that Poly varnish from Minwax 40 years ago....and he used it to refinish all the wooded passage doors in his house..and the front door.

 

 

Current Project is scheduled to get 2 coats of Minwax Poly Gloss. 

 

If this thread is another one of those Grand Crusade about "Mistake in a Yellow Can" themes...count me out!

BTW: I seem to recall that P&L 43 (?) is no longer being made.....

1 hour ago, steven newman said:

BTW: I seem to recall that P&L 43 (?) is no longer being made.....

 

It's worse than that....as far as I know all the alkyd resin varnishes have been discontinued except one: Min Wax Fast Dry Oil Varnish (formerly SW Fast dry Oil Varnish) and it's only sold at SW stores. But I didn't see this as a yellow can issue, more about urethane resin varnish being prescribed for everything.

Edited June 2, 20241 yr by Fred W. Hargis Jr

In use, this morning..

Labeled as "Warm Gloss"...stay tuned..