Help with timber choice please?

Hi Everyone,

I have a quick question relating to timber choice for a home project that I am hoping someone can help me with .....

The project involves building an outdoor play car for my kids. I recently spotted one in a public park and it got me thinking.

The design was simple, however I am intereested in your opinions as to what timber choice would be appropriate for such a project?

I am not too worried about longevity as I know that my boys will outgrow it. In fact, I would imagine that it might only see about 5 years of action.
To this point, I guess minimal timber costs would be a desired objective.

Can anyone recommend a sensible timber choice for this application? Furthermore, what finish would be appropriate for such outdoor usage?

G'day G

How about some mdf for the sides, treated pine or just pine
for any framing you may need, the mdf comes in large enough
sheets to cut out decent widths, that way there's no joining
of planks required, just seal it all with an exterior undercoat
and any acrylic house paint you may have around, just make
sure there's no places in the design for water to sit, basic
angles in the body should take care of that, sounds like a good
project

cheers
col.

Thanks ColW!

I was considering MDF, just wasnt sure that it would stand up to the rigors of outdoor use. I am intending for this item to be located outdoors on a garden bed.

Painted MDF won't really survive outside for more than about a year or so unless you are really, really careful about painting it (even then, it'd be slathering it in epoxy as well and if I got more than two years out of it I'd be surprised)

Try some of the construction grade plywood - it's lighter and stronger, and the glue is waterproof. If the ply gets wet, it wont swell up like MDF does and should happily give you five years if painted.

Use an oil based enamel to paint, or if you are really keen, a two pack poly from a marine shop. To really, really go the 'water won't damage this' route, paint with 2-3 layers of epoxy as your primer coats, and put the poly over that; that should push the lifespan closer to 10 years.

Yeah, MDF isn't a good choice if you want it to last beyond the first Winter.

Me, I'd go for treated pine, biscuiting a few boards together to make the sides.

Form ply would be ideal, but it can be difficult to stretch the budget that far...