Knocked up a picnic table for the sprogs last week. It’s made of 3×2 easy edge and is currently out on the lawn in the damp completely untreated.

What sort of stuff do I need to use to protect it? Is stain (like a fence stain) ok, or varnish? Any recommendations for type / brand / techniques etc?

I do have some cuprinol paint stuff left over, but I think this would look prettier in “wood” colour.

/blackadder

What is the last thing you made? (pics pls)

Good but spendy…

Is it staying on that grass? Maybe epoxy resin socks for the legs…

In respect to the ‘old’ – rather than colouring the wood with a stain / varnish you can accelerate the natural silvering that happens to wood with age with a home-brew mix of vinegar and wire wool. Buy a nice big bottle of vinegar – buys some wire wool. Stuff a bunch of  the wire wool into the container of vinegar and leave it somewhere to ‘brew’ for a few days (with the lid loose as it’ll give off a bit of smelly gas)

Then just give the the wood a wash of the new (quite stinky) mix – in a few minutes the tannin in the wood will oxidise in the same way as if the wood had been exposed to the elements for several years – taking away that new yellowy-pine-ness and turn a silvery-grey. What tone it goes depends on the wood but it’ll go to the tone that that particular wood naturally ages to as all you’ve done is  kick start a natural process

Then weather proof it with whatever you want but you don’t need to use a coloured product that will then fade

Teak oil is really all you need, either wipe on with a rag, or get an old spray bottle, and spray it regularly.

I would give it a couple (or more) of coats of tung oil then a spray coat of clear  lacquer from Wilkos (£4)

Owaltrol do a large range, whether you want the weathered finish ( silverygrey) or want to keep it looking fresh they’ll have something.

Varnish it or colour it with woodstain  and I’m setting the dogs on you mind 🙂

Thanks everyone. Lots of ideas in there. I always thought /presumed teak oil was for teak. Fancy that.

Struggling a bit with epoxy resin socks as well – are they like fence post end protectors?

https://www.onlineplaygrounds.co.uk/post-covers-domc9.html

Struggling a bit with epoxy resin socks as well – are they like fence post end protectors?

Yeah sorry, I just mean paint the end-grain in contact with the ground with something like epoxy. It’s the place where it’ll suck up all the moisture and rot, especially if sat on grass. You could paint the end-grain or use something like Araldite painted into the end-grain to slow down water suckage…

I always thought /presumed teak oil was for teak. Fancy that.

Yeah, it’s a bit misleading really, you can use it on any wood that sits outdoors, seats, tables, etc. I’ve got a garden seat that’s starting to weather a bit, so I’m giving it a good going over with teak oil in a spray bottle, just an empty one that had something like work surface cleaner or glass cleaner, any sort that’s got a trigger pump action. The oil might need thinning a tad, a bit of White spirit to make it spray better, and give it a few coats, drying between coats, then once or twice a year. Varnish will weather and crack, oil soaks into the grain.