well, i've no idea how to accomplish what my sisterinlaw has asked
she has the absolutely beautiful Sapele gate, that has a relief of an egret in it, her location is on Alemeda, Ca. island, the weather is wet, fog, ect. the gate maker is no more, the gate still has its normal Sapele color at this point, but she needs something to finish it with that will with stand the elements, and assist in the egret figure to become prominent, need some direction, ideas, ect. anyone, and thanks before hand, appreciate any direction,
regards
rj in az

Maybe @kmealy would have some ideas

I wonder if there is an epoxy finish that would be flexible enough for something like that and has UV protection???

Most often the recommendation is for a true marine spar varnish, not the box store stuff. From a boat dealer brands such as Epifanes and several others I don't recall are suggested. Even then there's some routine maintenance that must be done, but they may be the best bet.

I was born and raised in the beach area, lived my young life two blocks from the beach and dad tried all sorts of "stuff" for his projects, he built architectural items for his friends and neighbors in the area, trellises, doors, Japanese garden inspired Koi Pond bridge and all kinds of neat stuff. If he didn't flat out paint it, he'd oil it up, maybe, and a big maybe, he'd follow it up with a marine varnish, but rarely, and the reason was because none of it lasted more than a year anyway, and it'd turn flaky, faded, and white milky discoloration. So he'd simply oil the heck out of whatever it was, with whatever oil he had on hand, knowing the reality is he'll be maintaining the work a year later no matter what, and he didn't want to mess with the sanding, and stripping, when he could just flood more oil on it and bring back the color.

Even salt water boat owners are constantly sanding, and refinishing, it's just a fact of life in that harsh environment. If it were my family member @knockonit , I'd give it a soaking with some good oil or deck oil like Thomsons water seal, and leave them with a gallon of it and let them know, if you don't see me in a year, here's a gallon to oil it up a year from now. Depending on the size of gate, she may want to just get used to taking an hour of her day every six months and splash some oil on the gate. 🙂

I don’t have any personal experience however my brother in law has a log cabin on the lake and he swears by a product called Sikkens. He says it cost more but last so much longer with better protection than regular water seals.

On 8/3/2026 at 12:40 PM, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

Most often the recommendation is for a true marine spar varnish, not the box store stuff. From a boat dealer brands such as Epifanes and several others I don't recall are suggested. Even then there's some routine maintenance that must be done, but they may be the best bet.

Yes, the boat places sell good varnish. Minwax polyurethane spar varnish (Helmsman) is junk. Never had a boat but what what I've heard sanding and refinishing every couple of years is required.

https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/product/paints/varnish

I've used One Time Finish on my daughters' fence and swing set and it seems to hold up well. Likewise expensive, but it's UV cured, so it doesn't have a solvent/thinner that evaporates away. It is an "in the wood" finish.

https://onetimewood.com/

And the third option is untinted oil-based paint
https://thepatriotwoodworker.com/forums/topic/24280-tgif-paint-on-a-clear-finish/#comment-335669

The other thing to avoid is the deck refinisher's product, assuming they are still even being made

https://www.popularwoodworking.com/finishing/deck-coatings-that-fail/

And, boy, "relief of an egret" was not what I originally thought.

Edited August 4Aug 4 by kmealy

2 hours ago, kmealy said:

And, boy, "relief of an egret" was not what I originally thought.

That almost slipped by me as the trim in our old house was painted Egret🤣

On 8/3/2026 at 7:23 PM, John Morris said:

I was born and raised in the beach area, lived my young life two blocks from the beach and dad tried all sorts of "stuff" for his projects, he built architectural items for his friends and neighbors in the area, trellises, doors, Japanese garden inspired Koi Pond bridge and all kinds of neat stuff. If he didn't flat out paint it, he'd oil it up, maybe, and a big maybe, he'd follow it up with a marine varnish, but rarely, and the reason was because none of it lasted more than a year anyway, and it'd turn flaky, faded, and white milky discoloration. So he'd simply oil the heck out of whatever it was, with whatever oil he had on hand, knowing the reality is he'll be maintaining the work a year later no matter what, and he didn't want to mess with the sanding, and stripping, when he could just flood more oil on it and bring back the color.

Even salt water boat owners are constantly sanding, and refinishing, it's just a fact of life in that harsh environment. If it were my family member @knockonit , I'd give it a soaking with some good oil or deck oil like Thomsons water seal, and leave them with a gallon of it and let them know, if you don't see me in a year, here's a gallon to oil it up a year from now. Depending on the size of gate, she may want to just get used to taking an hour of her day every six months and splash some oil on the gate. 🙂

I'm very interested to read this John, I've had more or less the same experiences, and puzzling a bit over the success with various products that others related, I always chalked it up to the heavy UV exposure that comes from living at 6000', or the intense heat and shrink/swell cycles that I would see in Tucson with some UV there too.

I figured that on the coast, perhaps varnishes last a little better, like 4-5 years from the way people seemed to talk on the internet. From what you say, my gut feeling was right and it wasn't just where I was living that made everything last a year or less.

I also always believed the negative talk around Thompson's that I remember from maybe the late 90's when the internet really started getting traction. Then my wife tried it on an ipe deck and I was surprised to realize that it really was the perfect product for that. An oil that soaked in well and didn't attempt to be a film finish. Just what it needed. Still needed a recoat in a year, but the recoat was easy - because there was no failed film in the way!

On 8/4/2026 at 1:51 PM, kmealy said:

And, boy, "relief of an egret" was not what I originally thought.

Same here. I was thinking "why would a person want to preserve that?" Then I saw your comment above and it clicked - oh, a relief carving. 🤣