Garden bench feet - best way to slow rot?

[Deadeye]

I've built a replacement garden bench. It's oak, finished in OSMO UV everywhere except the underside of the four legs.
It's going to be standing on grass/soil. What should I put on the soles of the legs to slow down rot as much as possible? I'd like it to last a fair few years as it seemed to take a fair few to make it!
Thanks

 

[Adam W.]

Cut some pad feet and attach them with brass screws. The end grain of oak is much more porous than the side grain.

 

[Jacob]

Stand it on brick, stone, metal, some combination, etc etc, so that there is no wood within say 3"of the ground and no detail which could be a water trap.
Have a look at "staddle stones" to get the idea.
Even just a 6" quarry tile under each leg would make a difference.

 

[scholar]

You could try this stuff:
https://www.promain.co.uk/manufactu...s/teknos-teknoseal-4000-end-grain-sealer.html
I am not sure it is designed for this application as such, but certainly seems to seal the end grain well (as the name suggests it should!)

I use it on Accoya windows and doors, as advised by Accoya technical. It is nice to use.

Cheers

 

[Richard_C]

If you are not going to move it, blocks or bricks. If you are, sacrificial ends as suggested above, or go all victorian and put wheels at one end and maybe rubber or wooden feet at the other?

 

[TheTiddles]

Metal, lift it off the ground by a little bit and sit on concrete pads

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Flashband. Just ensure it's lifted and not dragged around when moved.

 

[morqthana]

Once upon a time the advice might have been to let the legs sit in some containers of creosote for a few weeks.

Anyway - Adam's suggestion will work - the pads will be more resistant, and can be replaced as necessary.

Or look at using something like these? 18.59US $ 37% OFF|Household Stainless Steel Cabinet Feet Thicken Furniture Legs Table/sofa/cupboard Stable Support Foot Multifunction 4pcs/lot|Furniture Accessories| - AliExpress

Or see if you can find a stainless steel fabricator to make you some square caps you could sit the ends of the legs in?

 

[Jacob]

..............
Or see if you can find a stainless steel fabricator to make you some square caps you could sit the ends of the legs in?

View attachment 139317

They would fill with water and keep the leg permanently wet, accelerating the rot almost as fast as standing them in a bucket. Better without the box and just a pad to stand on
You have to protect them from damp from below and also avoid water traps for rain from above.
Ditto flashband - it'd hold water in, as well as out.
Back to the drawing board!

 

[petermillard]

I’ve used a wood hardener to soak the end grain in the feet of redwood Versailles planters before, and they’ve held up very well. Or have some metal plates made to sit between the feet and the ground.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Ditto flashband - it'd hold water in, as well as out.
Back to the drawing board!

It works perfectly well. The flashband is stuck to the timber - to hold water in there's have to be water there in the first place, and the only way the water could get there is down though the end grain/pith ...... which if the thing is designed properly should be impossible anyway.

 

[Jacob]

It works perfectly well. The flashband is stuck to the timber - to hold water in there's have to be water there in the first place, and the only way the water could get there is down though the end grain/pith ...... which if the thing is designed properly should be impossible anyway.

Sure it'll work in the short term but rain water drains down the outside and will eventually find a way in, through hairline cracks or through the timber itself.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Eighteen years afterwards the softwood garden table was still perfectly sound.

 

[Jacob]

Eighteen years afterwards the softwood garden table was still perfectly sound.

Do leave it out all year round?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yes.

edit - in W. Cornwall - there aren't many places wetter.

 

[Jacob]

Yes.

edit - in W. Cornwall - there aren't many places wetter.

Well that's miraculous! Most timber left outside for 18 years would rot to dust. What do you treat the timber with?

 

[Jameshow]

I'd drop them in epoxy to seal the ends.

 

[johna.clements]

My bench in south Devon has been sitting outside for the last 25 years. Think I got it from B&Q,. It is on a paved area raised up 10mm on some bridge bearing shims (solid black plastic about the same plane area as the legs). I have rubbed some oil into it a few times but not every year. There is some rot in the bottom of the feet. last summer it spent a week sat in four milk cartons with cuprinol inside to give a good soak to the legs.

 

[Deadeye]

Thanks all. I'm going epoxy coat and some pads

 

[sawtooth-9]

Soak the end grain with an epoxy.
There are several "water thin" epoxy wood "sealers" available. Most boating supply stores will carry these as stock items e.g Norglass
Epoxy is not uv resistant, but is perfect foe your application.