Wood protection varnish on outdoor bench/table

Broomstick

I may have left this too late weather-wise, but we bought a pine picnic bench-type table in the spring and it's now looking faded, like untreated wood. I am thinking that we probably need to put some kind of weather protection varnish on it before the winter really sets in. Does anyone know what we should get and if there is anything that dries particularly quickly? Our garden is pretty windy so, even if it's sunny, the chances of bits blowing around and sticking on the drying varnish are high. We haven't got anywhere indoors we could paint it.

Many thanks.

timmmers

Outdoor wood treatments are easy to find on Ebay cheaply, it depends what finish you want and how long you want it to last etc how much you pay...drying time isn't much of a problem outdoors however if it's just a table Just do it on a calm day, and when it's done turn it upside down on a few small spacers (to keep the top off the ground) and cover the thing with plastic or an old sheet until its dry to keep anything blowing onto it.
Weigh the covering down to prevent it blowing away or things getting under the edges.
Anything that does get on there wil be underneath and out of sight so won't matter much anyway.

Don't do it when it's damp, you'll be sealing mousture in the wood and it may rot faster...a few dry days or covering it for a while with plastic beforehand is a good idea.

I've only done this once on garden furniture that people may sit on and used Ronseal ...it didn't take much to do a set of pub picnic benches, a litre if I remember right with two coats on the tops. There's probably cheaper and better stuff I reckon someone here will know.

I have a 2.5 ltr pot of something called Baufix here that a freind used ...going to do my external wood doors one day...that was 6 quid from Lidl and from what I've seen is pretty good.

t

Broomstick

That's really helpful - thank you. I hadn't thought about getting the wood dry first but it's obvious when you think about it, as is the idea of double-coating the top surfaces.

Thanks again
B

rosekitten

try Osmo oil/wax once your table is dry you
literaly just slosh it on,satin like finish thats
water repelant and its a green product.

Mr_Warren_2

Don't use varnish, use oil. A varnish will i time crack and peel, with oil you just need to add another coat. We made the mistake and have learned te lesson.