Basketweave Bench Update

Hey!

Since I shared the arbor/bench that I built with you on Monday, I figured that I'd share an update that I made to the basketweave bench that was built last year.

This bench is still one of my all time favorite builds, but it was getting weathered pretty quickly. I built it out of soft pine, but finished it with an exterior grade stain. That had worked for my shed, but the poor bench (which was sitting on a covered patio) just wasn't faring well.

The wood had started peeling and curling up

The seat boards were cracking (this was after I'd already begun sanding it)

There were just signs of damage all over the poor thing.

So Baby Goats and I sanded and painted the whole thing a semi-gloss exterior gray paint (I wish I could give you the exact color, but it was from the OOPS bin!). I should also note that I filled the cracks with interior/exterior caulk for a smoother finish.

But it just wasn't looking as awesome as I wanted it to (probably because it's not blue, and this bench is destined to be blue - I just know it!). So I thought I'd add some flair (and home pride) by painting our house numbers on it!

Printed and traced the numbers onto the bench...

It had to be blue!

(this is the same blue that I used on my basketweave trellis' - also an OOPS bin color)

I still swoon over them..!

And set the bench out front to display my house numbers!

This definitely taught me that the tough Phoenix sun can destroy even protected finishes, so now I have to build with exterior grade woods and use more durable finishes. The last thing I want is for my hard work to go down the drain because of a simple finishing mistake.

It's good that I learned my lesson...

Kinda sucks that outdoor stuff's gonna be more expensive. But I'll take it over having to rebuild every few years.

How's your outdoor furniture doing? What's maintenance like for people with a less harsh environment? Any tips/tricks? I'd love to know!!