. . . To Finish or Not to Finish. That is the question.

Factoid: There are no exterior wood finishes– be it oil, stain, varnish, or paint–that will prolong the life of your Prowell product by a single day. Your finishing decisions are purely aesthetic and entirely subjective.
We know this from 47 years of revisiting our project sites from Duluth to Miami to Santa Barbara.

1) The correct species of wood matters.
—a): Western Cedar is inherently stable, which means the dimensional changes it experiences between the seasons is minimal.
—b): Western cedar is equipped through millenniums of evolution with a plasma, or tannin oils, that deters the infestation of an ecosystem of bacterial fungus.
—c): Our standing orders from the mills specify the normal clear, kiln-dried demands. But more so, vertical grain and a growth ring count of at least 20 per inch.
——-c1): Vertical grain boards are less likely to cup, warp, or twist than face grain board
—- –c2): 20 growth rings simply means that the tree is not harvested prematurely, which in turn means the tannins have fully matured and fiber between early harvest tree is less baby fat than developed, stable wood fiber.
2): The design of the products themselves accounts for a level of dimensional change and drainage that must be considered with any wood assembly fully exposed to the elements. The wood must breath.
3): The complexity of wood joinery, which in turn allows the cedar to breath feeling for decades and decades, without being inhibited by nails, screws, bolts, and metal fasteners.

Prowell’s products are fully exposed to the elements in a way unknown to the wood siding of a house or a front door or a garage door, etc, and consequently expecting them to accept any finish with the same forgiveness and lifeline is leashing yourself to a maintenance schedule that is at odds with nature, and a rather painful recurring expense. We’ll review the various options for the best exterior wood finish below, with their advantages and disadvantages.

OPTIONS:
The below options require that the cedar be fully exposed to the element for 2-3 weeks prior to applying your outdoor finishing product. The cedar will acclimate from the Pacific NW of its heritage to wherever you are. This applies particularly to non-penetrating finishes–paint, etc–where the paint , etc may not expand and contract at the same rate as the gate and the result is bubbles and checks.

EXTERIOR CLEAR OIL PENETRATING WOOD FINISHES
1 year timeline.Can be applied immediately upon receipt of gate
Properties:
Earth tones only. Matte finish
Clear Oil finishes are absorbing, which is good. Oil-Based
Advantages:
1) Oil enhances the color of the wood.
2) If maintenance is neglected, oil does not crack or peel. So it can be re-oiled long after it has grayed out, and the color returns.
Disadvantages:
1) The best exterior oil finishes require multiple initial coats. The more the better.
2) Oil finishes, at best, last a year.

TWO-PART FINISHES WITH TOP COATS
3-5 years timeline. Cedar must acclimate 2-3 weeks prior to coverage
Properties:
Two-part finishes begin with an absorbing coat that provides the pigment, or tint. Essentially an oil finish.
The second follow-up coat a day later is non-absorbing, laying over the Part-1 to provide the sheen. Oil-Based.
Advantages:
1) A little luster is nice. Front entry doors have luster. Dining room tables have luster. Some lips have luster.
2) Hand-prints, etc can be wiped clean.
Disadvantages:
1) There is no exterior wood finish that is impermeable to the moisture in the air–humidity, dew, fog. Wood exposed to the elements is going to expand and contract regardless. Sealing finishes, however, inhibit the cedar’s ability to breath freely.
2) The top coat and its sheen, if neglected, will ultimately crack and peel. Requiring scraping and sanding prior to refinishing. Prowell products often have intricate patters, making it difficult to scrape and sand in the event the normal maintenance schedule s gnored.
3) 2-part finishes have a lifeline of 2+ years. i.e. they require frequent maintenance.

MARINE SPAR EXTERIOR VARNISH
1-2 years timeline. Cedar must acclimate 2-3 weeks prior to coverage
Properties
Better known as Man O’ War Spar varnish, the thick, molasses-like signature high-gloss varnish for classic mahogany and teak wood boats. Oil-Based.

Advantages: None
Disadvantages:
1) Unless you are a classic boat enthusiast who has nothing better to do with your days than spend them refinishing your Prowell products, this option is to be avoided at all costs.
2) Severe checking and peeling of neglected
3) Requires annual maintenance.
4) Long, slow dry time. This means you have to continually check for runs if finishing the gates vertically. It also means that while the finish is drying, it collects dust particles like flypaper.

SEMI-TRANSPARENT EXTERIOR WOOD STAIN
5+- years timeline. Can be applied immediately upon receipt of gate
Properties
Absorbing stains that provide color pigment and sealer in one coat. Oil-Based
Advantages:
1) With pigmented color at your disposal, you can match the trim or house body color with a translucent likeness.
2) An absorbing product, meaning it penetrates the wood fiber and won’t crack or peel. If neglected, it simply wears away and the cedar eventually weathers to a natural gray. The cedar is allowed to breath freely.
3) Easy to apply.
Disadvantages:
1) Semi-transparent finishes often absorb with inconsistent results, due to the various densities of the cedar within a single board.

SOLID-BODY PIGMENT EXTERIOR STAINS
7+- years timeline. Cedar must acclimate 2-3 weeks prior to coverage
Properties
A paint-like consistency that lays on the wood, as opposed to penetrating finishes. Oil and water based.
Advantages:
1) Wide range of pigmented color to choose from.
2) Although checking or peeling are potential threats if neglected beyond the timeline, the threat is minimal.
3) Gives a slight sheen , somewhat less than semi-gloss paint
Disadvantages:
1) No real disadvantages other than the cedar must be fully exposed to the local climate for 2-3 weeks prior to finishing.

EXTERIOR PAINT
7-10 years timeline. Cedar must acclimate 2-3 weeks prior to coverage
Properties
Good quality exterior paint such as Benjamin Moore provide the longest lifeline of any finish. A layered finish that does not absorb into the cedar.
Advantages:
1) A perfect match to the preferred color
2) Long lasting, with a consistent, even color.
3) Wipeable surface. Easy to clean off smudges, etc
Disadvantages:
1) If neglected, it peels and checks and becomes unsightly, not unlike the siding of your house with the exception that the gate/fence, etc are fully exposed to the elements, hence a slightly shorter lifeline. If ignored, requires scraping and sanding before re-painting.
2) It will last almost as long as the paint on your house, but not quite. Unlike the front door or the siding of your house facing one direction only, the gate is exposed on 360 degrees.
3) We’ve learned that in in areas of exceptionally high humidity (Hawaii, southern Florida, etc), or exceptionally dry climates (Phoenix, Palm Springs, etc), painted finishes provide the most durable finishes, and with the least amount of maintenance.

WOODRX EXTERIOR SEMI-TRANSPARENT ABSORBING FINISH
7-8 yr timeline in temperate climates. 5-7 years in high humidity or dry climates.
Properties
A non-solvent, absorbing finish. Earth tone pigments only.
Advantages:
1) As a water-base exterior wood finish, WoodRX penetrates deeper into the cedar fiber, resulting in a longer lifeline.
2) If the timeline passes and maintenance is neglected, fresh coats can be applied with no prep to the existing cedar. Otherwise it will gradually fade and the cedar will consequently weather to a gradual gray.
3) Water-based. meaning it dries very quick. Second coat can be applied within an hour.
4) No solvent fumes to ingest.
Disadvantages:
1) Because it dries so fast, applying with a brush is not advisable. WoodRX sells a pump sprayer that is more effective than brushing, although the best results are acquired with professional spray equipment. (The posts themselves can be applied with a brush, as the brush strokes are straight and all the grain runs the same direction)
2) Only a dozen or so earth tone colors available, And several of them are nearly indistinguishable from one another. Check the link below to see the various pigments on our products.
3) Requires TWO industrially sprayed coats. (The second coat is important)

To many organic landscapes, a weathered gate or fence is the preferred aesthetic. Sites and properties designed in such a manner where products such as Prowell’s are more about the landscape than the architecture of the residence. Painting or staining hard scapes such as fences and gates, etc on these sites is to attempt to carry the precedent of the architecture of the residence into the expanse of the wilderness. On these sites, it is often preferred to simply allow the products to either weather naturally or opt for a pre-weathered finish, which quickens the weathering sequence from two years to being shipped in such a state.
*See Eco-Wood Treatments

Exterior Wood Finishes with Earth-Tones:
Semi-transparent stains

Within the above aesthetic, there is a distinction between organic wilderness and cultivated wilderness. If the lot is large and the gates and fences extend some distance from the residence and as a perimeter to a carefully maintained landscapes, it is architecturally preferable to finish the products with any of the earth-toned patinas provided by any semi-transparent stain.

Exterior Wood Finishes with Color:
–Paint, Semi-transparent stains, solid-body stains.

If, however, the lot is within a manicured neighborhood and the gates and fence are not only connected physically to the main architecture but in close enough proximity to be viewed as a single entity, the gates and fences are often finished with the same color coding as the primary residence. The house body or trim colors extended into the landscape. As the same finish, or the same patina but with the flat matte of a pigmented transparent stain.

There are those sites when a hardscape of fences and gates are inexorably linked to the architecture of the residence. Smallish lots where the gates, etc adjoin the building and never stray too far to establish an identity apart from the primary architecture itself. They are seen upon first impression as accessories to the building. Such as the front porch railing. So, in these scenarios it is more common to match–or closely match–the hardscape gates and fences to either the house’s sidewall color, or the trim. This is a practice followed with either paint, or color-pigmented stain.

PRE-WEATHERED FINISH

In the spring of 2013 we visited a site featuring Panel Style #1 originally installed in 1996. Allowed to weather with no detrimental affects to the integrity of the product.

No finish, listed below or above, will prolong the life of a Prowell product by a single day.

This is due to both the species and grade of wood spec’d from the mill, as well as the methodology of both the joinery and design that encourages a stress-free environment for dimensional movement.

Yes, we’re repeating ourselves.

RECOMMENDED TECHNIQUES
Applying your exterior wood finishes

Wood Gates built from even the highest standards of western cedar are not to be confused with decks or house siding or front doors or even garage doors (These have one whole side insulated from the weather, as well as the overhead roof and jambs. Decks and siding planks are fastened to joists or studs every 16″ and exposed on only one face). Prowell’s products are fully exposed to the elements on all six sides. Because our cedar comes from the coastal Northwest, and then inventoried in the shop of coastal Northern California, it will invariably want to breath once it finally leaves the shop and is exposed for the first time to the full climate. Some areas will see more dimensional adjustments than others, such as Florida compared to San Diego.

Prowell’s products are designed to specifically allow the seasonal expansion and contraction of the cedar experienced most dramatically in the first weeks of exposure to the elements. But . . . solid finishes such as paint or solid-body stains or 3-part layered sealants and exterior varnishes will not always cooperate with the wood’s inherent need to acclimate to your specific micro climate. While the cedar is adjusting and breathing during those first weeks, paints and solid stains and marine varnishes will not necessarily stretch with the same pliancy. They may, in 15-20% of the time, even see bubbling and checking and blemished results in the finish.

The solution? If you prefer a painted or solid-body stain finish, it’s best to wait 2-3 weeks once your product arrives and has been installed. Allow it to breath, acclimate itself in its full exposure, and then apply your solid finish to a much higher degree of success. If it rains and takes on moisture during that time frame, allow it to dry in the clear weather for several days prior to applying your finish–lest the absorbed moisture becomes trapped by the finish and has no means of escape.

APPLICATION TIPS

A few notes regarding the application process for exterior finishes.

Although sealing or staining or painting your Prowell product does not prolong the life of the high-grade cedars by a single day, it is often an understandable aesthetic preference.

Excerpted from the Prowell Installation Manuals:

A few application tips:
When applying your finish, start with one side, brushing the bottom rail with the grain and then the vertical stiles with the grain to avoid the brush strokes over-lapping.(This is particularly important with WoodRx, which is water-based and dries very fast). For all horizontal rails, not allowing the brush stroke to dry before brushing the vertical stile. Do not apply stain to the edges of the pickets or upper pattern on this side or the stain will run down the opposite side and leave run marks penetrating the bare wood before you are able to finish the opposite side. For those with solid lower panels, do not stain the edges of your open slots until the back side is addressed. Once you turn to the other side, you can then apply stain to the picket faces and edges, knowing the run-off will not absorb against the already stained surface. Check, when finished, the direction of your brush stroke to smooth out any over-laps.

Spray finishes: All of the above recommended products can be applied with compressed air sprayers for a more even finish without the risk of runs. WoodRX, with it’s faster drying time and water-based formula, is best applied with professional spray equipment. Two coats.

WoodRX sells an accompanying sprayer, available direct from them or through Home Depot (With mixed reviews, we’ll add)