# How to weatherproof indoor wood furniture



## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

You may not succeed because most indoor furniture is made of products that fall apart when wet---particle board with glued on veneers

Joints glues with water soluble glue and things like that---

Your Spar varnish is the product designed for out door use---so you might have the surface taken care of.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

Marine finishes like spar varnish or even special urethanes or epoxies can help seal surfaces. Furniture, especially that left outside, needs to breathe though and sealing it can actually keep it from doing so and shorten its life.

As Oh'Mike mentions the challenge is also going to be whether the adhesive and materials the table is made of can take the outdoor conditions including temp and humidity changes over a 24 hour period on a regular basis.

Are you planning to leave the table outside or do you just want to be able to use it now and then? Is it expendable? 

You might be better off putting the money you will spend trying to seal it into buying something more specifically suited to outdoor use if it is a keeper. Right now the liquidation sites should be getting rid of nice sets at end of season prices. I saw a beautiful teak set the other day for a great price. 

On the other hand, if the table has outlived its indoor usefulness and you don't mind if it fails in but a season or two? Go for it I guess. If it is real wood your other option is to pull it apart and use a suitable exterior glue. This still will not change how a hardwood or pine table is going to react to outdoor conditions. If it is veneered particle board, you are sunk almost instantly.


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## rgriffin473 (Sep 4, 2012)

Wow! Thanks for the input.. I didn't think of all that / The thing is that we moved into a smaller home and don't need the 2nd dining table so wanted to use it on the patio. Otherwise, it's just sitting in the garage... Maybe I should just sell it and like you said, invest in an outdoor set. Is there a Web link to the place you were referring to? Thanks again!


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

That looks like a decent table and the chairs look nicely constructed. You should get a few bucks for them on CL or eBay regional. If you were close enough I might take them off your hands.

I honestly do not remember where I saw the teak set I mentioned. I know I had been searching for RTA (Ready to Assemble) teak sets a while back but it may have come to my attention in a daily FAB posting. You might search for RTA in more general outdoor furniture terms as well. 

Do take a look at places like Overstock and even Amazon for outdoor furniture. Keep an eye on shipping charges of course. Smith & Hawkins has nice stuff and your local, real, furniture stores may have higher end quality outdoor furniture. If they have not already cleared it out of the way, Sears, KMart, Target, Big Lots etc. should be making deep cuts to their outdoor furniture about now.

Teak, even on sale, will cost you but you will have to do little to maintain it and it should last a lifetime. Some of the higher end synthetic wicker looks promising too. 

Good luck! By the way, at some point you might want to update your profile with general geographic info so we know where you are. It is sometimes important in providing answers or suggestions.


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## notmrjohn (Aug 20, 2012)

Can't really tell from pic, but looks like table rails and top are veneered particle board or similar. Not gonna withstand outdoors, no matter how you treat it.
Laudable to want to use it instead of having it sit around ( where its just gonna be in way). Don't expect big bucks by selling it, maybe 1/4 what you paid if that. Consider donating it, our local "Battered Women" shelter always looking for tables and chairs for relocated families. Some charities are more liberal in pricing for tax write offs than others.


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## rgriffin473 (Sep 4, 2012)

sdsester said:


> That looks like a decent table and the chairs look nicely constructed. You should get a few bucks for them on CL or eBay regional. If you were close enough I might take them off your hands.
> 
> I honestly do not remember where I saw the teak set I mentioned. I know I had been searching for RTA (Ready to Assemble) teak sets a while back but it may have come to my attention in a daily FAB posting. You might search for RTA in more general outdoor furniture terms as well.
> 
> ...


I'm new to this but well like to update my profile. I figured out how to update my photo but not location or anything. I'm doing everything from my app on my phone.. Do I need to do it on my desktop?


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## drtbk4ever (Dec 29, 2008)

Here is a nice teak chair.


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## rgriffin473 (Sep 4, 2012)

They're beautiful!! What kind is the ones that your standing by.. They almost look like trees??


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## drtbk4ever (Dec 29, 2008)

That isn't me, I'm better looking.  

It is teak root. Apparently teak is getting harder to come by and they have discovered if they go back and dig up the roots from the old harvested teak trees, they can turn them into amazing pieces.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

rgriffin473 said:


> I'm new to this but well like to update my profile. I figured out how to update my photo but not location or anything. I'm doing everything from my app on my phone.. Do I need to do it on my desktop?


Not sure. I know their are some things I cannot do with the mobile app so you may have to make changes from home.


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## rgriffin473 (Sep 4, 2012)

Nice!! I'm in Tomball, tx... Not sure if this helps with my location. I can't figure out where to put this in my profile.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

rgriffin473 said:


> Nice!! I'm in Tomball, tx... Not sure if this helps with my location. I can't figure out where to put this in my profile.


 top of page, click, used cp, click user details, down near bottom of page is where to enter user location


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## notmrjohn (Aug 20, 2012)

Rachel, even your solid wood chairs are not going to withstand the humidity down there, even if they are raised off the ground, and are you sure you want to raise it even an inch above your dizzying elevation of 150 ft above sea level?. The glue is gonna let go and the hardware is gonna rust. And then ya got your Formosan termites wanderin around . Even some real outdoor furniture has a hard time of it in Harassed County. It seems you were really trying to repurpose unused furniture instead of advice on outdoor furniture, but if you do want some and budget allows, look into locally grown bayou cypress. Not as pricey as teak (few woods are), wood not imported very local for you, even local furniture makers, very nice and rich looking, withstands outdoors great. And if you go out to the bayous to get it from some small workshop builder, you might see several examples of indoor furniture bein used outdoors; sofas on the porch, car seats in the yard, a pot of gumbo on kitchen range out back, meat smokers made from refrigerators, crawdads in a bathub in shade of an ancient cypress.
BTW folks, if you aint from around here, Rachel lives in Tomball, not tomble or tombull.


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

I'm a little late to the party...but as everyone has said, your table and chairs will not last outside. Additionally, they look too nice to subject to that kind of treatment. 

I do woodworking as a hobby.....getting wood to survive outside is a real challenge


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## notmrjohn (Aug 20, 2012)

ddawg16 said:


> I do woodworking as a hobby.....getting wood to survive outside is a real challenge


I do woodworking as a livelihood.....getting wood to survive outside is a real challenge.:wink:


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## rgriffin473 (Sep 4, 2012)

drtbk4ever said:


> That isn't me, I'm better looking.
> 
> It is teak root. Apparently teak is getting harder to come by and they have discovered if they go back and dig up the roots from the old harvested teak trees, they can turn them into amazing pieces.


I'm sure you are  

Well I'm going to keep my eye out for that. I love it! Thanks for the info.


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## notmrjohn (Aug 20, 2012)

"That isn't me, I'm better looking" but not as good looking as the furniture.


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## MT Stringer (Oct 19, 2008)

@Rachel - there is a Woodcraft store not far from you (FM1960 @ I45 North in Spring). Very nice and helpful folks there. They can answer just about any questions you might have about woodworking...and sell you the tools to do the job! 

Me, I am in Channelview...'bout 40 miles or so from Tomball. I have been there a few times to eat chicken fried steak at the restaurant (forgot the name), see Avatar in 3D at the movie house and shoot high school volleyball action at Concordia Lutheran.


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## notmrjohn (Aug 20, 2012)

Now yall know that no place that calls itself a "restaurant" can cook a chicken fried steak. The good ones are at Truck Stop Cafes. Great ones are at Mel's Country Cafe and Goodson's Cafe in Tomball.


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## creeper (Mar 11, 2011)

What on earth is a chicken fried steak....

Is it poultry or beef ??


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## notmrjohn (Aug 20, 2012)

creeper said:


> What on earth is a chicken fried steak....
> 
> Is it poultry or beef ??


You poor, poor, benighted creature living such a deprived existence , denied of one of the necessities of life. A delicacy, yet found in the lowest one table, greasy spoon road houses. Ranking with the ambrosia of the gods, available to the lowliest of peons. Invented by German settlers on the early Texas frontier, fighting off Commanches while yearning for the wienerschnitzel of their home land. Deprived of veal by rustlers and Kiowa raiders running off with the yearlings, they turned to the longhorn, majestic, and tough, lord of the range, creating a dish a hausefrau cooked in a cast iron skillet over an open fire and eaten off of tin plates, while hunkered down on ones heels. A feast,that has since been prepared by haute cuisine chefs in the most modern of kitchens and served to royaly on White House china. One of the holy trinity of food, chicken fried steak, barbequed briskett, beans and cornbread, and chili.Its Texas, the trinity is bigger. ALL STAND! HATS OFF! Siddown, let's eat! Ask not what it is, but where to get one.
Tis neither fish nor fowl, but cometh from the bovine. the beast of the field, _*Bos primigenius*_ _*texensies*_.


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## MT Stringer (Oct 19, 2008)

notmrjohn said:


> Now yall know that no place that calls itself a "restaurant" can cook a chicken fried steak. The good ones are at Truck Stop Cafes. Great ones are at Mel's Country Cafe and Goodson's Cafe in Tomball.


Goodson's! That is the name I couldn't recall.
http://goodsonscafetomball.com/


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## MT Stringer (Oct 19, 2008)

creeper said:


> What on earth is a chicken fried steak....
> 
> Is it poultry or beef ??


Not to be mistaken for chicken fried chicken!


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## creeper (Mar 11, 2011)

notmrjohn said:


> You poor, poor, benighted creature living such a deprived existence , denied of one of the necessities of life. A delicacy, yet found in the lowest one table, greasy spoon road houses. Ranking with the ambrosia of the gods, available to the lowliest of peons. Invented by German settlers on the early Texas frontier, fighting off Commanches while yearning for the wienerschnitzel of their home land. Deprived of veal by rustlers and Kiowa raiders running off with the yearlings, they turned to the longhorn, majestic, and tough, lord of the range, creating a dish a hausefrau cooked in a cast iron skillet over an open fire and eaten off of tin plates, while hunkered down on ones heels. A feast,that has since been prepared by haute cuisine chefs in the most modern of kitchens and served to royaly on White House china. One of the holy trinity of food, chicken fried steak, barbequed briskett, beans and cornbread, and chili.Its Texas, the trinity is bigger. ALL STAND! HATS OFF! Siddown, let's eat! Ask not what it is, but where to get one.
> Tis neither fish nor fowl, but cometh from the bovine. the beast of the field, _*Bos primigenius*_ _*texensies*_.


Thanks for the enlightnment. But do not worry notMr.John. As it turns out there is no deprivation going on up here in bland old Ontario.

Weinerschnitzel...yum Veal parmesan ...delicious . Now that I know it is 
nothing more than breaded and fried steak the only question is ..

Why on earth is it necessary to throw the chicken fried part in. Why don't you just call it what it is...breaded steak cutlet

Now cornbread...nevermind ..we've already discussed it in the cooking/baking thread


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## notmrjohn (Aug 20, 2012)

Welcome to the cooking thread. It is not called a breaded steak cutlet because it is neither cutlet nor breaded, breaded steak cutlets are available on many menus along with Chicken fried steak and (brace yourself) chicken fried catfish.These may be difficult concepts to grasp for one raised on boiled beaver tail, lichens doused in maple syrup, and sweet white cornbread. I shall endeavor to explain;
First ya get youself a big ol thick, steak, no mere cutlet, a big ol steak. Tenderness or toughness don't matter, sirloin or round, but not too tender we want some tooth to this. Breed don't matter Brangus to Longhorn. The German and Czech settlers didn't have tender veal, they had longhorns which had been toughening up by chewing on prickly pear, cholla, catclaw, mesquite beans and mesquite trees, so they devised a cunning plan. Second step, plop the big ol steak on a sturdy surface and commence to beat the living tar out of it with a 2x4 ( making this relevant here at DIY) waffle faced hammers, your cuzzins hard head or anything else that comes to hand. mechanically 'tenderized' cutlets such as your minute steak, in both pronunciations, are mere wimps compared to what you are creating. Wham on that steak like it was a carpet bagger come courting your sister, til its 2 or 3 times its original size and less than 1/2" thick. Now comes the chicken part part1. Dip the subdued steak in a nice thick batter, not breading, double dip it. True fried chicken is battered not breaded. Batter recipes are family secrets passed down from mothers since Moses went rafting down the Nile, a healthy dose of black pepper is common to most. Double dip it. Let it drip. Now comes the fried part and chicken part part 2. While you were batterin on the long horn to make sure it was dead and while you were batterin the battered steak to make sure it was battered all over with batter, you been bringing a dutch oven with several inches of grease in it up to almost smoking heat. fried chicken is not sauetied in a little oil, nor in a little more oil in a no stick pan, it is fried in enough grease to barely float, not dunked in a fast food deep fryer neither, but in a cast iron skillet or dutch oven. Which are also passed down from generation to generation. Lard makes the best fryin grease. Fry it till its a nice crispy golden brown. Plop it on a couple of pieces of thick toast cut into triangles. some places they call it Texas toast, we just call it toast, on a big plate, steak should overlap plate if you done your poundin correct. A big ol scoop of mashed potatas and /or french fries. Ladle on a bucket of cream gravy which also been doused with pepper. T'other week, feller served it with brown gravy, claimed it was a _country_ fried steak. we all miss him, visit the grave reglar and annoint with proper gravy. As a side, in winter pinto beans, in summer string beans. Desert, pecan pie with cream all poured on it. Or peach cobbler with the cream all on it.
Hearing about a place you never been that is rumored to have a good chicken fried steak has been the insperation for many a road trip, rich awl men will hop in the lear jet and fly across the state. Next week " Briskett, pecan or hickory smoke?" Also we'll tell you how to crack those pesky armadillo shells without...Flash! We interupt Cooking With Whiskey While Drinking Whiskey with this bulletin... The death penalty has been handed down in the case of Lester B. Bludshed, who was found guilty of putting beans in the chili last week. His lawyers appealed to the jury to "use a soft rope. as Lester is obviously insane." we now return you to your regularly scheduled thread, "How to weather proof indoor wood furniture" starring Rachel from Tomball. Rachel, hows that furniture holdin out?


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## creeper (Mar 11, 2011)

Thanks for the recipe...that sounds...uhm ..err..uhm ..good? I think I just felt my arteries harden

Now I get it when I hear them say everything's bigger in Texas


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## rgriffin473 (Sep 4, 2012)

No, he's saying "the" restaurant because it is definitely THE chicken fried streak restaurant. People come from all over to eat there! Oh... The name is Goodson's Cafe! I rarely eat that kind of food but when I do, it's gotta be great. It's the best (next to mine of course)!


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## notmrjohn (Aug 20, 2012)

"! I rarely eat that kind of food" so you're more of a Bar-B-Que person. 
creeper, Bar-B-Que is not cooked on a grill over charcoal or any other fuel.


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