Finish for Cypress Screen Door

Do you want to keep the color natural or darken it up? Im going to guess that a spar / marine varnish would be the way to go but cypress is naturally rot resistent (to a point). Ive used general finishes dye stain on it with good results.

-- "there aren’t many hand tools as awe-inspiring as the #8 jointer. I mean, it just reeks of cast iron heft and hubris" - Smitty

Thanks Chris. We chose Cypress because it is rot resistant—but still want to give it the most longevity possible.

-- "hold fast to that which is good"

I’ve always had good luck with spar varnish. I had some pine Adirondack chairs that lasted over 20 years sitting outside using it.

-- There is nothing like the sound of a well tuned hand plane. - http://timetestedtools.wordpress.com (timetestedtools at hotmail dot c0m)

I have had good luck with polyurethane. Three coats otta do. The only pain about poly is you can’t spray it.

-- Willie, Washington "If You Choose Not To Decide, You Still Have Made a Choice" - Rush

PENOFIN … I used it on a pair of Cypress doors I made about 5-6 years ago … looks great.

-- - dabbling in sarcasm is foolish … if you’re not proficient at it, you end up looking stupid … ... ...

Pintodeluxe, I spray a lot of Spar Urethane using a cheapo Home Depot gun.

-- " I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter" gfadvm

Our home is built out of Cypress, studs, beams, floor joist, tongue and v groove vaulted ceilings, outside walls and decks, outside doors and window frames, Never had anything put on it and was built in 1974. No rot, no bugs, no mouses. Never had an exterminator in it. About every four or five years I pressure wash the outside and it looks almost like new Cypress all over again.
Some people spray a sealer on their Cypress homes to keep it from turning gray, we just let ours do it’s natural thing. We do live in the mountains and it seems to fit right in with the surroundings.

-- Bruce http://plans.testsitem3.info http://www.sawmillgirls.com

Wipe it down with Mineral spirits before, if you put a finish on it. Cypress is rot and bug resistant and will color naturally I tried to use a finish on it and it will not look so good in a year or two. In fact 6 months it may yellow or you may see ALLIGATORING using the wrong finish. Are you using sinker cypress?

I’m not sure what sinker cypress is. I didn’t purchase the wood, but my father-in-law (for whom I’m building the door) purchased it. Also, what on earth is alligatoring?

EDIT, just did a google image search for alligatoring wood. Ugly stuff. :-)

-- "hold fast to that which is good"

I have wooden screen doors on all my exterior doors, and on some interior ones as well. They work great and will last many years if they are properly primed and painted. Poplar is very easy to paint but one of the least resistant woods in the hardwood family. Yellow pine is ok, but white pine is poor.. Cypress, cedar, fir works really pretty well.

retractable window screens