Southern Yankee Workshop
Custom Handmade Benches
How I Painted The Bench?
Allow the wood ample time to dry out!
I always allow the bench to sit in the sun for about two weeks before I prepare the finished bench for a coat of paint. As I noted earlier in this project, pressure treated lumber is usually wet when you get it from the lumber yard. This is done to reduce warping at the store and in the warehouse. Often in the hot summer months, the stores will actually place sprinklers above the stacks of pressure treated lumber to maintain a wet moisture content. This process does not add water to the wood, but rather it keeps the chemicals that permeate the wood from evaporating.
Use a tack cloth to remove any dust!
After removing any dust from the bench, I usually use a paint sprayer to spray two good coats of Olympic exterior opaque house stain. After that is done, I then use a two and a half inch paint brush to add a finishing touch and to fill all the holidays that will be left by the paint sprayer. This is the final process and is a telling tale of how good you did sanding all the pieces. The paint job will last ten years, and should be repainted about every seven years just to be sure that this garden bench will last a generation or more.
Allow to dry for 48 hours!
Set the bench in a warm dry place for 48 hours so the paint will dry completely. You would not want anybody coming after you with an urge to kill because they sat on the bench and stained their best Sunday skirt on the weekend you finally get around to painting it.
Sip some lemonade in the garden!
After you find the right spot in the garden, get a tall glass of lemonade and have a seat. Enjoy the relaxing comfort that is afforded by such a quality garden bench as this one you built yourself. Invite everyone to join you for an afternoon chat in the garden. Take in the joy that others will have as they enjoy the comfort of the garden bench that you carefully made with pride. Pat youself on the back, you have accomplished a new skill level in wood working. You have started the process of becoming an accomplished wood joiner
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