Finish on Cypress shower bench

[BburgBoy]

I just completed a shower bench of cypress (BTW - purchased from Steve Wall Lumber, likely known to many of you on this site). First time using this wood for me. I love the light tone and rift sawn grain. I would like to put a light finish on it preserving as much of the natural look. Know that it will be in a guest bedroom shower that gets used maybe a dozen times a year, at most. So, I'm comfortable with not much of a finish at all. I experimented with BLO and Watco Danish Oil (which of course, has resin) and each looked pretty good. I'm thinking of that or just a hard wax, knowing that cypress already has inherent rot resistance. I'm afraid that teak oil or similar products, while affording added protection, would darken too much. Any thoughts on the viability of a light finish over the long term?

Larry

 

[John Jimenez]

Waterlox clear…..what kind of glue did you use?

 

[awldune]

Beautiful piece

 

[BburgBoy]

Waterlox clear…..what kind of glue did you use?

Titebond III. I've never used Waterlox, but was thinking of that. It's an oil, not a film finish, right?

 

[bowman]

Waterlox is a tung oil product

 

[tvrgeek]

True tung oil or true teak oil. Not the watered down mix Watco sells. But yea, they will darken. Only way I know to keep it truly light is a film finish. Test on scraps.

 

[Dee2]

I just completed a shower bench of cypress (....

Larry

Do you have build notes, pictures and/or a good memory that can be turned into a How-to article for the Resources Forum? Please consider and thanks in advance.

 

[BburgBoy]

Do you have build notes, pictures and/or a good memory that can be turned into a How-to article for the Resources Forum? Please consider and thanks in advance.

I have my plans, notes to self on order of assembly, and a few photos. Alas, I didn't photographically document this as well as I normally do. I'm happy to help in any way, but I'm new to this forum and am not sure what's being requested. Can you PM me and advise?

 

[Mike Wilkins]

Consider using a clear finish used for wooden boats. Total Boat Epoxy or West Systems.

 

[malacoda]

Titebond III. I've never used Waterlox, but was thinking of that. It's an oil, not a film finish, right?

Most Waterlox products ... including Original Waterlox, their most popular finish ... are a film finishes. The raw ingredient it's made from is tung oil ... but then is transformed into a phenolic resin. E.g. It is more similar to a poly urethane than to an oil finish.

A good analogy would be bread. It's made from flour. But it isn't flour any more. It is transformed into something much different.

They will also add an amber tone.

AFAIK, the only Waterlox product that is not a film finish is their Pure Tung Oil finish ... which is, of course, pure tung oil.

 

[Robert LaPlaca]

I agree with most of the statements in John’s post,

Other than the Waterlox pure tung oil finish, the traditional Waterlox products are wiping varnishes. Unlike polyurethane based varnishes, Waterlox can be recoated easily without the need to heavily abrade the finish, actually it can be without any abrading. I use the product all the time.

 

[Wiley's Woodworks]

There is a lot of surface area and lots of narrow cracks that need to be protected in a shower environment. Have you gotten far enough along to weigh a wipe-on/brush-on product vs a sprayed on finish? I would like to know which you choose and why.

 

[malacoda]

Yep, like Robert said, Waterlox is a great finish. And repairs easier than poly. It's my preferred finish as well when I want a film finish.

That said, in the constantly wet environment, there is one particular way that it will be have very similar to a urethane finish: Once the film gets even the slighest 'break' in it, moisture will slowly work its way in, causing the wood to swell when it gets wet, then shrink when it dries. Over time, this repeated action will eventually cause the finish to begin to crack and peel ... just like any other film finish.

Spar varnishes — made for use on wooden parts on boats and watercraft — are the most elastic film finish. This allows them to 'flex' with this constant movement of the wood beneath it. But, while they'll hold up longer than a urathane or phenolic resin film finish, they too will eventually begin to crack and peel.

How long they will last depends on how much time passes before the first few tiny 'breaks' are created (e.g. nicks, dents, scratches from used, etc.) ... and then how often the shower gets used.

It all boils down to how you want the bench to look, and how much/little maintenance you want to do on it:

• Keep raw and let it gray naturally. You can lightly scrub it now and then to remove any mildew spots, if any start to form.
• Use a pure oil finish ... or an oil and wax finish ... and re-apply it as needed (every couple of months?).
• Use a more-easily repaired film finish like Waterlox Original and do mild spot sanding and reapplication when/where needed (1 or 2 times a year?)
• Use a spar varnish and completely sand and refinish when needed (every 1 - 3 years?) (NOTE: Really good ones, like Epifanes, may be spot repairable similar to Waterlox. It's a phenolic-modified alklyd made from tung oil (also similar to Waterlox). You'd have to check out their product info. The ones found at HD and LWS are urethane-based spars though, so once they start to crack and peel, you have to completely sand them off before applying a new coat.)​
• Might also be worth looking into epoxies or fiberglass resin.​

And, as Wiley pointed out, if you can't disassemble it, completely coat all the surfaces in a film finish, then reassemble it, this process of water absorption, swelling, then shrinking will occur very soon, and very fast. And make even quicker work of lifting/wreaking a film finish.

Hope this helps.

And the bench looks really sharp. Nice work!!

 

[BburgBoy]

There is a lot of surface area and lots of narrow cracks that need to be protected in a shower environment. Have you gotten far enough along to weigh a wipe-on/brush-on product vs a sprayed on finish? I would like to know which you choose and why.

Wiley, I decided I was overthinking the thing. I applied several coats of Watco Natural looking to get protection from the linseed oil and the resins and moved on to the next project.

Here was my thinking: It is for a guest bedroom which someone occupies maybe 10-12 times per year...at the most. It's a large shower and might hardly get wet. Finally, it is cypress after all. If it was to be in our regular shower or another wet environment, I likely would have gone another route.

On the other hand, what a lesson in finishing!! Thanks so much to all the posters. This is a small testament to the NC/Va woodworking community sharing knowledge.

 

[BburgBoy]

Yep, like Robert said, Waterlox is a great finish. And repairs easier than poly. It's my preferred finish as well when I want a film finish.

That said, in the constantly wet environment, there is one particular way that it will be have very similar to a urethane finish: Once the film gets even the slighest 'break' in it, moisture will slowly work its way in, causing the wood to swell when it gets wet, then shrink when it dries. Over time, this repeated action will eventually cause the finish to begin to crack and peel ... just like any other film finish.

Spar varnishes — made for use on wooden parts on boats and watercraft — are the most elastic film finish. This allows them to 'flex' with this constant movement of the wood beneath it. But, while they'll hold up longer than a urathane or phenolic resin film finish, they too will eventually begin to crack and peel.

How long they will last depends on how much time passes before the first few tiny 'breaks' are created (e.g. nicks, dents, scratches from used, etc.) ... and then how often the shower gets used.

It all boils down to how you want the bench to look, and how much/little maintenance you want to do on it:

• Keep raw and let it gray naturally. You can lightly scrub it now and then to remove any mildew spots, if any start to form.
• Use a pure oil finish ... or an oil and wax finish ... and re-apply it as needed (every couple of months?).
• Use a more-easily repaired film finish like Waterlox Original and do mild spot sanding and reapplication when/where needed (1 or 2 times a year?)
• Use a spar varnish and completely sand and refinish when needed (every 1 - 3 years?) (NOTE: Really good ones, like Epifanes, may be spot repairable similar to Waterlox. It's a phenolic-modified alklyd made from tung oil (also similar to Waterlox). You'd have to check out their product info. The ones found at HD and LWS are urethane-based spars though, so once they start to crack and peel, you have to completely sand them off before applying a new coat.)​
• Might also be worth looking into epoxies or fiberglass resin.​

And, as Wiley pointed out, if you can't disassemble it, completely coat all the surfaces in a film finish, then reassemble it, this process of water absorption, swelling, then shrinking will occur very soon, and very fast. And make even quicker work of lifting/wreaking a film finish.

Hope this helps.

And the bench looks really sharp. Nice work!!

John, I so very much appreciate the time you took to share your knowledge....a veritable lesson in finishing. As I replied to Wiley in the post above, I decided to go for a much simpler route. But I'm hopeful that other members too can benefit from your posts. Larry