FINISHING CHOICES FOR WESTERN RED CEDAR  

LEAVING YOUR FURNITURE UNFINISHED 

Because of the natural beauty of Western Red Cedar you may leave your furniture unfinished or you may stain or paint the furniture.  The natural properties of Western Red Cedar make your furniture able to withstand insect infestation and the elements.  When your furniture arrives, the color of the cedar will be a glowing pallet of warm light amber to a deep honey brown tone.   Your Western Red Cedar furniture, if allowed to age naturally, will weather to a beautiful silver-grey color and the grain of the wood will become slightly raised.  Over time the wood will eventually be highlighted by dark silver streaks formed from a reaction of the natural cedar resins and the zinc hardware of your furniture.  One benefit of leaving your wood “naked” is that you will have a wonderful subtle aromatic fragrance of Red Cedar. 

Additionally, if left untreated the cedar has an incredible thermal coefficient.  Your benefit is that on hot days, your furniture will remain cool to sit in. 

The natural oils in Western Red Cedar wood fibers contain natural preservatives which make the wood resistant to rot and decay.  This feature makes this wood a great choice for humid areas or climates. 

If you choose to leave your furniture to age naturally you can rest assured that your furniture has not been exposed to any chemical treatments.  Unfortunately, many wood products are chemically treated with preservatives such as copper, arsenic and chromium.  Studies have shown that you do not absorb the chemicals through your skin, but the exposure occurs when someone touches the wood product and then eats or puts their hand in their mouth. This occurs mostly with small children.  So remember our Western Red Cedar has NOT been treated with any chemicals, so you and your children are safe leaving the wood unfinished.   

WOOD SEALER 
You may choose to seal your Western Red Cedar furniture with a wood sealer such as Thompson’s Wood Sealer.  This product blocks the pores of the wood and inhibits the grains from becoming raised.  Wood sealer does allow the wood to fade to a nice silver-grey color.  

STAINING 
Another option is to stain your Western Red Cedar furniture.  You are able to choose any color of stain that suits your décor.  We recommend that if you stain your cedar, choose a stain that is applies in a single coat and that is semi-transparent and has a UV protector.  You will have to re-stain your furniture about every 3 years to freshen the finish. 

PAINT 
You may also paint your Western Red Cedar with any type of outdoor paint.  Remember that over time water will be trapped under the paint and your paint will begin to chip and crack.  You will eventually need to scrape off the old paint and you will need to refinish the paint. 

PRESERVATIVES 
If you are planting your arbor, trellis, or pagoda posts into the ground we recommend a preservative that is placed into the ground.  This helps prevent the moisture from attacking your posts.  You only have to do this if your cedar is placed into the ground.