Finishing Outdoor Projects Most of us live in places where the rain and snow can make short work of the wooden projects we put in the yard. Few of us have the luxury of living in an
area that gets 0" of rainfall per year. We'll assume that you live in Minnesota or Wisconsin -- someplace where the snow and rain are about as nasty as it gets. Let's take a project and walk through what we would do to protect
it and why. A
popular project around Christmas time is reindeer for the yard. These projects call for 3/8" to 1/2" plywood. Most of us, due to cost, must use regular construction grade plywood which costs around $20-30 (yikes!) per 4'x8' sheet. This wood
needs a lot of protection and "pre-care". You can also opt for pressure-treated plywood which will run about $30-40 per sheet, but offers some protection from water through the use of chemicals.
Whenever you're investing time and money in a project, you want it to end up looking great and you want to enjoy using it now and in the future. When you're making a project that
is going to be staying outdoors, getting it to look great might not be as difficult as getting it to last for years in the rain, snow and wind. The elements take their toll on everything eventually, but there are a few things you
can do to lessen the effects of mother nature on wood projects.
If you want to go all out, you can use marine plywood. This is going to cost you around $70 per 4'x8' sheet, but the water-proof nature of this aptly-named plywood is worth it's weight in gold -- your project is sure to last for years and years. But, for most of us, the regular plywood has to do.
Inspect your plywood. You will probably find that the flat surfaces have some knots, cracks, or
crevasses. Any of these spots are bad for your project -- water gets in there and sits, rotting your project from the inside out.
You need to fill them in with wood putty. Get a small pail of wood putty/filler, a putty knife, and fill all holes, knots, cracks, etc.. You're trying to
get a "hole-free" piece of wood. You do not want water to be able to seep in ANYwhere. After the wood putty is dry, sand it smooth and level with the rest of the plywood surface and wipe down the lumber with a
damp cloth to remove the dust.
Before you begin tracing your project pattern onto the plywood, go ahead and coat the plywood with a latex primer that is close in color to what the finishing coat will be. For white reindeer, white primer is the obvious choice. Go ahead and coat both sides of the wood, covering the general area that you will be cutting out. This will provide your first layer of protection.
Now, trace your pattern onto the plywood and cut out all the pieces of the project. We recommend using transfer paper
to get your pattern onto the wood -- this method allows you to transfer your patterns without cutting them (so you can use them again later). Another option is to cut out the actual patterns and tape or glue them temporarily to the wood and trace around them.
At this time, examine the edges of all pieces of your project as there may be cracks or holes in the "in-between-sandwiched" areas of the plywood which fall out after cutting. If you discover a hole, crack, or other
place water could seep in, fill it now with more wood putty, allow to dry, sand flush, and wipe down with a damp cloth. Once final wood puttying is finished, your project is ready for another coat of primer. Apply a
2nd coat of latex primer
You're finally ready for the top coat of paint. We still recommend latex paint for the top coat, but you may substitute any type of paint you like for your top coat (oil). As the wood is already sealed, go ahead and apply top coats until you are satisfied with the way your project looks.
The amount of protection we have already applied is more than many people take the time to do, so let's go a couple steps further for a truly protected project.
H ydrocoating. This is what will really make the rain and snow run off the wood and provide the final barrier of protection. We recommend a water-based polyeurethane for this step. Coat your project two to three times with polyeurethane -- allowing drying time in between each coat. Be sure to coat the edges even better than the face of the wood. The edge grain of wood absorbs far more liquid than elsewhere. Keep this in mind when staining projects, too.
Now your project is ready to put in the elements and you can do so with the confidence that it will last for many seasons, making your hard work worth while.
To ensure your project continues to last, depending on how harsh your climate is, you should re-coat your project with polyeurethane OR paint at least every two years.
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Creative Woodcraft Plans, Ltd.