I have a cypress cover for a fire pit table that sits outside 24/7 on the center of a fire pit table in the heat and humidity of South Florida. It was initially finished, about two years ago, with General Finishes Exterior 450 finish.

The finish lasted about two years, and it took me an additional year to get around to refinishing it. There were a number of areas (one in particular) that showed significant rot damage. I've cut out that area, replacing it with new wood, and have brushed on, and let soak in antifreeze (ethylene glycol), as there are a number of posts on the web saying that it works quite well as a rot preventer / killer.

My question now is, will I have issues with dye and eventually some more coats of the General Finishes Exterior 450 sprayed on top of the antifreeze that has soaked into the cypress?

Alternatively, I could do coats with penetrating epoxy followed by marine spar varnish (I did this on Charles Neil's recommendation on a Titanic Deck Chair and, while a total pain to use, and smelled terrible, it has worked extremely well. It's just a long two step approach, and is a pain to clean the spraying equipment).

Anyone done this technique? I really wanted to prevent further rot on the piece, as it looks very nice, and it was a real pain to steam bend the base of it.