It's fallen on the bar manager and me to build tables for the bar patio. We have new lumber and frames to assemble these. They will need some sort of protective coating. (He and I would have chosen plastic tables, but it wasn't up to us.)
What is the quickest and easiest way to coat and protect these tables?
We're leaning heavily in favor of smooth-finish deck paint. That seems like it will stand up well and be easy to maintain.
I'm seeing how-to guides online saying the wood needs to be cleaned first to prep. Is this really necessary with fresh lumber? Is there another option that gets us having tables out sooner with less effort?
RevRico
MegaDork
4/13/23 12:29 p.m.
Pressure treated lumber and be done
Barn paint will hold up well with minimal maintenance.
In reply to RevRico :
They already bought the lumber. I don't know if it's pressure treated. I presume they didn't spend the extra for that.
If I do barn paint, can I skip the cleaning step?
Not sure I'd want to use fresh PT lumber on a table that the general public will be sitting at. That stuff has nasty chemicals in it and needs to age and dry a bit before I'd be comfortable in that setting.
Presumably this will need to be cleaned frequently, so I'd pick something with a harder, glossier finish. Good old oil-based Rustoleum paint will probably do the trick, as long as that works aesthetically. If not, I'd probably stain it and then coat it with polyurethane.
How do they say to clean the bare wood?
In reply to Beer Baron :
I always skipped it. Of course my extent of cleaning any kind of wood for any purpose is wiping the saw dust off and calling it a day.
Held up to chickens, granted chickens are a lot smarter and more sophisticated than most humans, it should hold up to them too.
VolvoHeretic said:
How do they say to clean the bare wood?
The paint companies say, "Use our wood cleaner to remove mill graze..." general google-searches say, "You should clean even new wood, or the paint won't adhere as well." I think part of this is wanting more sales.
I suspect cleaning it fully is the rightest way to do it, but I'm not sure how much that really will impact the lifespan of these tables.
The taproom is closed Mondays. Our ideal scenario is to cut and paint Monday; assemble Tuesday before open. Add a second top-coat Monday after a week. If we have to clean, that is an extra day of work and storing wood in-process.
I'd use an exterior stain like Wolman F & P. https://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/wolman/f-and-p-wood-finish-and-preservative-stain
The problem with any paint is when the edges get scraped up and some of it comes off and the whole project starts to look like crap. Freshen them up every year or so with a gentle cleaning and another application of stain.
Paint needs to stand up to being on a horizontal surface under direct sun.
Should be smooth finish that is easy for bar staff to wipe clean.
1988RedT2 said:
I'd use an exterior stain like Wolman F & P. https://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/wolman/f-and-p-wood-finish-and-preservative-stain
This says:
"REGARDLESS OF AGE OR SURFACE CONDITION, FAILURE TO FOLLOW PROPER PREPARATION METHODS WILL RESULT IN POOR ADHESION AND POSSIBLE COATING FAILURE. NEW AND SEALED WOOD DECKS NEED TO WEATHER AT LEAST SIX MONTHS BEFORE APPLICATION."
So... would that potentially mean, we just assemble tables from raw lumber and just... put them out with no finish? Then, end of October, clean and stain in advance of winter?
That would be... really easy.
Sort of depends if they are going to be sitting in the sun and rained upon, and what latitude above the equator. What I would do in S. Florida is a lot different than Vermont.
As far as cleaning goes, after assembly I go over all the surfaces with a belt sander, rounding edges, doing away with splinters, etc.
A high quality deck stain with a lot of solids might be your answer. Spare varnish like used on boats is pretty tough stuff, and keeps the "woodgrain look"... available at all the big box stores.
If not pressure treated wood, I would paint/stain the bottom of legs so water doesn't wick up the grain and speed up rot.
YMMV
In reply to Purple Frog (Forum Supporter) :
This is central Ohio. They will be sitting on the outdoor patio for our taproom in direct sun and rain.
We have metal leg kits for these. The wood is just the horizontal surfaces.
So these are basically bar tables in a restaurant setting? Spaces between boards will get food in them and be impossible to clean. Rustic wood picnic table would be fine for occasional use, but I'm not sure it's the best bet here. I'd be looking for some heavy duty vinyl tablecloths.
Beer Baron said:
"REGARDLESS OF AGE OR SURFACE CONDITION, FAILURE TO FOLLOW PROPER PREPARATION METHODS WILL RESULT IN POOR ADHESION AND POSSIBLE COATING FAILURE. NEW AND SEALED WOOD DECKS NEED TO WEATHER AT LEAST SIX MONTHS BEFORE APPLICATION."
That's a "disclaimer." The company lawyers tell them to put that in there. 
If you're working with lumber fresh off the shelf at the store, you will potentially have trouble with any finish product, not to mention warping and splitting of the wood after assembly.
1988RedT2 said:
So these are basically bar tables in a restaurant setting? Spaces between boards will get food in them and be impossible to clean. Rustic wood picnic table would be fine for occasional use, but I'm not sure it's the best bet here. I'd be looking for some heavy duty vinyl tablecloths.
Someone else started a project without thinking it through. They have blown past their deadline.
The bar manager and I are picking up the project and fixing the problem by the end of next week. The lumber and the legs have already been purchased. We've had them for too long to return.
We're exclusively a bar. No food service. I think we're going to provide a large enough gap between boards for food to fall through.
1988RedT2 said:
Beer Baron said:
"REGARDLESS OF AGE OR SURFACE CONDITION, FAILURE TO FOLLOW PROPER PREPARATION METHODS WILL RESULT IN POOR ADHESION AND POSSIBLE COATING FAILURE. NEW AND SEALED WOOD DECKS NEED TO WEATHER AT LEAST SIX MONTHS BEFORE APPLICATION."
That's a "disclaimer." The company lawyers tell them to put that in there.
If you're working with lumber fresh off the shelf at the store, you will potentially have trouble with any finish product, not to mention warping and splitting of the wood after assembly.
Either way... it sounds like the best and easiest option is to handle these tables generally as though they were a deck:
Cut and sand boards. Assemble the tables. Let them sit out for a season to weather. Come back in the fall and stain the top surfaces like it was a deck.
This lets us have tables up Monday, and gives us lots of wiggle room to come back and finish them when most convenient.
I suggest a seasons worth of beer to help preserve the wood...
Beer Baron said:
1988RedT2 said:
So these are basically bar tables in a restaurant setting? Spaces between boards will get food in them and be impossible to clean. Rustic wood picnic table would be fine for occasional use, but I'm not sure it's the best bet here. I'd be looking for some heavy duty vinyl tablecloths.
Someone else started a project without thinking it through. They have blown past their deadline.
The bar manager and I are picking up the project and fixing the problem by the end of next week. The lumber and the legs have already been purchased. We've had them for too long to return.
We're exclusively a bar. No food service. I think we're going to provide a large enough gap between boards for food to fall through.
They'll be fine. What you need is tables. Make tables. If you do use a stain, you'll need to be sure there's no transfer to clothing when you put them into service. That stuff can take a long time to "dry" thoroughly.
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
I'll second that. I used deck stain on my picnic table and for some reason it stayed sticky and transferred to skin / clothes for weeks. It is fine now and has held up for years but I was surprised at how long it took to stop being sticky
NY Nick said:
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
I'll second that. I used deck stain on my picnic table and for some reason it stayed sticky and transferred to skin / clothes for weeks. It is fine now and has held up for years but I was surprised at how long it took to stop being sticky
Well... if Stain is going to be a problem, we can go back to deck paint.
Either way. Build tables now. Let them weather a season with some hop-oil preservative. Then finish them in the fall.
We need tables now.
Rust bullet floor paint goes onto wood nicely.
I have an outdoor table that I constructed four or five years ago. It's made of macrocarpa which is a member of the cypress family. It s very durable but goes grey in the sun and is prone to checking. I originally coated it with some variant of polyurethane decking oil which was quite successful until water penetrated under the finish and things turned ugly. Last November, our spring, I used paint stripper and a belt sander to take the top back to bare timber. Instead of the previous finish I just coated it with some kind of woodworker's liquid wax and it has had one re-coat about a fortnight ago. WRT the picture only the top was stripped and waxed, legs etc are the original finish.
TLDR - plain old wax could well be enough 
