Maintainence

[Wansworth]

Varnish is bottom of my list for outside wood - if it gets damaged and the wood underneath gets wet, it's a big job to strip back to bare wood and start again. Oil is pretty good, but needs regular redoing, but my favourite, especially if I want gloss, is le Tonkinois. Starting with bare wood, then six coats is little different from varnish, but the advantage is that it doesn't need to be stripped when it gets tired, just a couple of refresher coats and you're good to go.


Each to his own

But I think I prefer this look

Varnishing is not that difficult, but you do need to keep on top of it. Sumara is 36 year old and looking pretty much like new. Just traditional single pack gloss varnish slurped on every year.

Your “slurping on” Iam sure is an exaggeration …….Probably a tin of traditional varnish can be kept to hand along with a brush wrapped in a turps soaked cloth can be ready to use to patch the varnish work.traditional paints and varnishes are less dependant on perfect conditions.On the coasters I worked on a tin of orange/redanti rust paint and a tin of top coat were always to hand to touch up rust spots and a pleasant way to while away the odd momment