Thread: Jarrah Outdoor Furniture

I was going to ask a similar question. My Jarrah outdoor furniture is nearly 20 years old and very neglected. I now have a covered outdoor area and need to rejuvenate my furniture. Wombatwal

About ten years ago I bought an outdoor suite from Barbecues Galore. It's not Jarrah, but apparently an Indonesian equivalent,
When I bought it they 'gave' me two tins of 'Finishing Oil', to be applied six monthly. I've only ever bought another two tins of the gear and the suite still looks the same as it was when we bought it - CRAPPY!

I don't know whether this will help but, for what it's worth . .

I have three Jarrah gates at home. They were originally installed about fifteen years ago. Over that time they had gone to look really ordinary: mottled, dirty grey and stained.

I took them down, one by one and, over about five weekends, sanded them back to bare wood (which looked magnificent: varying from pink to a rosy brown - true Jarrah!) and then gave them two coats of heavy-duty marine grade polyurethane. The finish darkened the wood a bit, of course, but the result was still pretty good. Better still, the polyurethane has done the job. The gates are all exposed to Perth's very sunny climate and they look as good after three years as they did when I first restored them.

I reckon that if your setting is going to be exposed to the elements, you need some serious protection.

Driver

Will try that. I have never done this before so what sand paper would I use for my furniture. Would a UV protected polyurethane do instead of marine. Wombatwal:confused:

Wombatwal

Get ready for some hard work! I used an orbital sander and garnet paper, starting with 60 grit and working through 120, 180 and up to 240. The finish was pretty good by that time so I stopped there. If you let the sander do the work you should get a similar result.

I don't know whether UV protected polyurethane will give you the same wearing properties as the marine grade (which is also UV resistant, by the way). There's not much price difference between the two and the marine grade has very high water resistant properties.

Driver.

Hi Driver,

Care to name the marine grade poly that you used ? I'm a bit disappointed with the last outdoor finish combo I used (Intergrain DWD and Dimension 4), and would appreciate any pointers on stuff that other people are happy with.


Cheers,


Justin.

Justin

Sorry about the delay, mate. I had to search the memory banks by going to look at the shelves in Bunnies! I used Cabots Exterior Clear marine grade polyurethane. It worked fine.

Driver

Thanks for making the effort Driver, I think I'll pick some up and try it out.


Cheers,


Justin.

Hi,
I have a Jarrah setting under a Pergola.
Although it is not in direct sunlight, I do get greying of the timber over time.
I use Cabots "Garden Furniture Oil".
It works a treat. After oiling it brings up the colour back to the original deep red.
I also find it easy to apply - just follow the directions.
I find that I need to do the oiling approximately once a year.

Regards
Alex

I would advise being careful using garden furniture oils in direct sunlight - they are only very lightly pigmented and thus will wear very quickly. They are very similar to Decking Oils in their properties.

I have found them very easy to use, but in direct sunlight will only last about 6 months tops.

For a more long lasting finish - try something like a deck and timber stain (jarrah) which is more pigmented.

I would also suggest cleaning the timber with an oxalic acid type product (I have used Haymes Exteior Wood Cleaner) prior to staining. This will clean off all of the guff and help to return a grey dirty piece of timber back to its original colour. It will also help with the life of your finish.

I agree with Sasha and Yoda and would suggest Cabots Jarrah stain. I think Sasha used the furniture oil and not the decking stain which is good but not as pigmented. I've used this on timber signs that have gone grey and it has brightened them up no end. The polyeurothane alternatives are OK, and marine grades are the best of these but may be more worjk than you need. Garden furniture is garden furniture and timber outside is never going to be totally satisfying. The stain will give a very pleasing result and your furniture will last for ages with regular top upr. Polyeurothane will last ten to fifteen years if your lucky in full sun, then its sand, sand, sand or replace. Oil will therefore last longer in my opinion.

Just a tip regarding marine grade clear finishes. Clear finishes have no (or little) UV blockers. Those beautifully glossy finishes you see on really well maintained boats? Theyre usually sanded back and refinished every year at refit. Up here in the tropics the better gameboats rub back their coamings every three months to reapply finishes and the most popular is "Goldspar" because its soft and easy to sand off. If you want to spend a weekend every year refinishing your outdoor furniture then use "Goldspar" otherwise talk to your paint supplier and find out which system has the most UV blockers - probably Sikkens or Intergrain.


Mick

G'day all
Some feedback on what I have done with my 20 year old furniture. I cleaned with Feast & Watson "Wood Clean". This did a good job of removing 20 years of neglect. I then painted with Cabots Jarrah Wood Stain for decks. This worked well. Then I decided to finish it off with Cabots Marine Polyurethane gloss. The furniture came up much better than I thought it would, I was very pleased. Bruce