best wood for outdoor furniture?

It sounds like you’ve already got it narrowed down pretty well. I was looking at making some outdoor furniture a while back, and like you, I discovered that teak is obscenely expensive. Cedar would definitely be my choice. If humidity is a concern, perhaps an outdoor marine varnish would be in order. The kind used on boats should do pretty well for just furniture.

-- Brian in Arlington, TX - Laziness is the foundation of efficiency.

Another option you might consider is White Oak. It can handle the outside elements fairly well and has a nice look to it. It is a bit more expensive than Cedar but much less expensive than Teak.

-- There is little that is simple when it comes to making a simple box.

Redwood if it’s near you.

-- Ken, USAF MSgt, Ret.

I second the white oak suggestion. It makes beautiful furniture, ala Stickley (although I might be prejudiced in that regard :D) and it is used to make Adirondack chairs so you know it is rot resistant.

-- Art

I would stick with cedar.

-- "My mission in life - make everyone smile !"

Cedar would be good. I’d use spar varnish on it.

There are several hard woods that can be used in this situation. The biggest damage to outdoor funiture comes from UV rays. Once these rays remove your protective finish….the other elements – heat/cold, damp/dry….will finish the work that the UV started.

That said, I have used walnut, maple, mahogany….etc..etc…for outside items with the caveat that I refresh the finish every 6 months to a year. I use a good penetrating oil finish as this is easier to apply and does not require re-sanding to apply (you can apply spar varnish over an old coat of spar…but the level of the finish will be unequal – this is because most UV tolerant finishes are made to flake away with contiuous UV exposure…this is so that the entire finish does not curl and peal away as non formulated interior finishes would). It is usually a very good idea to sand old coats of spar before applying a new coat.

My favorite outdoor funiture woods though are Redwood (1) – great stuff but can be expensive depending on the distance you are from California and Oregon. White Oak and Cedar (2) tied – both are awesome woods and both have their pros and cons. Mahogany (3) great outside wood – alot of wood boats are made from this and with new plantation woods – it is getting a bit cheaper to use. There are many more…but listing them would make this way to lengthy. Typically though, most hardwoods will work outdoors if you are diligent about keeping them oiled or finished…

-- Woodworking.....My small slice of heaven!

White oak and cedar are good woods for this. For a finish I used a three part finish on my Potting Bench. It is made up of equal parts of tung oil, turpentine, and polyurethane. Keep it thin and let it soak in before wiping. Use as many coats as you like. It is very easy to touch up later.

-- Dave, Arkansas,retiree

painted.

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Honestly, all the woods mentioned above are good, but in the end they all grey/rot/ etc faster when not painted. A really good outdoor finish is to use exterior paint base paint without the tint added. The paint base has all the protective properties except the tint (tint blocks UV), but the other properties of the base paint does a pretty good job. Base paint without tint will dry clear even though it goes on kinda milky.

-- Shameless - Winner of two Stumpy Nubs Awards

Thanks for the replies and suggestions. Very insightful.

Ipe, Black Locust, and Douglas fir are pretty good choices too.

I like cypress for outdoor projects.I’ve been getting rough cut cypress for $1.25 a board foot

Ipe or teak but they are expensive. Redwood and cedar are naturally durable woods as well as white oak.

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Meranti

-- John, Long Island, NY