# Finishing pine for outdoor use



## therookie (Aug 29, 2010)

What does everyone suggest for an outdoor pine finish thinned down linseed oil or would thompsons water sealer.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

The only way I put pine outside is pressure treated, and slathered with either Thompsons, or a LOT of primer and paint… Pine loves to rot, you need to protect it…


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## stevenhsieh (Jan 8, 2010)

boiled linseed oil is fine, just apply often

if your going to paint use oil based primer and high quality paint.

Forget thompson water


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

Adam,
If the piece is going to be protected- like on a covered porch- probably the oil/paint will work. If it is going to be completely exposed not much is going to prevent it from rotting eventually. If you can get southern yellow pine, it will last a lot longer than white pine or spruce.
Lew


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

Ain't gonna last for long unless it is true slow-growth heart pine.
Bill


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## pjones46 (Mar 1, 2011)

I have made garden benches from old growth local New England pine from a mill down the street from me. Coated them with Cabots Australian oil four years ago and left them out to the weather since. There has been "NO" sign of rot yet. I dipped the ends of the pine which touched the ground in a coffee can of the oil allowing the end gain to soak up as much as it could, and on the rest did as the can instructions rcommended. This year I gave them another coat just to freshen up the color.

As I said, these are outside 24/7, 365 days for four years and they look just as good as they did when I built them, however, the pine you buy at a lumber yard is junk because it is about the 9th generation and not old growth. Try to find a mill near you that is cutting old growth trees and allow it to air dry for about 6 to eight months, it will outlast you.


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