# Finish for Cypress Screen Door



## BrandonW (Apr 27, 2010)

I generally don't make things that are going to be subject to the elements, except when I'm using pressure treated wood. But now I'm making a screen door out of cypress (that depraved wood) and want to give it the best protection as possible against the elements. Any suggestions?


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

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.


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## BrandonW (Apr 27, 2010)

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


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

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


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## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

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


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## Fuzzy (Jun 25, 2007)

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


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

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


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## bruc101 (Sep 13, 2008)

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.


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## sandhill (Aug 28, 2007)

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?


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## BrandonW (Apr 27, 2010)

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.


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## elitemark (May 8, 2012)

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


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## WaltLM (Dec 11, 2015)

Some time ago I read an article on the web re: durable finishes for outdoor projects. The recommendation was to use un-pigmented exterior base paint. While it looks milky white in the can and goes on white, it dries clear. You see the wood as with varnish but you get the protection (against UV and water) of paint. I recently replaced all of the pine trim (finished with spar varnish) on my screened porch with cypress. After about 3 years the varnish had broken down and had to be refinished. After 3 more years I had wood rot. It looks great. I put on 2 coats of good quality 4 base, caulked all of the joints and while I couldn't get a paint store or manufacturer to recommend this, I am hopeful that the warranty will exceed mine. If you do some searches on this topic (using exterior un-pigmented base paint) you will get several other hits.


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