I’ve been battling with my pottery barn outdoor furniture set for years. The finish started to fail after the first year on the tables and some of the other horizontal surfaces. Really not their fault I guess and I’m well aware that if I want nice outdoor furniture then I need to be prepared to put more finish on each year. Last season I used waterlox marine as I’ve used it on my sapelle garage doors and it holds up great. I use waterlox for my Own furniture Projects and I like the product.
so here’s the thing...when I sand down to bare wood it’s pretty obvious that pottery barn mixed and matched different species of wood. They are pretty close but vary in color and even grain pattern. The furniture that still has the original finish looks kinda like paint with barely any grain showing. So they must have used a gel or tinted the top coat.
Can I do an oil based Gel Stain on my outdoor furniture and then top with Waterlox marine which is an oil based varnish? Waterlox says yes but the finish won’t “penetrate as deeply” which to me equates to less moisture protection. Regular pentrating oil minwax looks ok - but if I can get the color more consistent it would be optimal.
any suggestions?