We purchased a 20 year old ex-pub bench from a couple that lived around the corner, shortly after we moved in. Despite being 20 years old, it was in fairly good condition. However, the elements started to take its toll over the last year or so, what with it being the wettest year ever (seemingly). The structure was solid, but the top planks had, in the middle, started to rot. I handed my wife a chisel and she gleefully cut out all the chunks of rot on all the planks, ready to apply wood filler.
Why not replace the planks? Well, wood and especially chestnut, which is what the table is made of (not cheap pine!), is extremely expensive. Also, the top is not a structural part and in the worst place it was maybe 1.5cm deep in a plank that measures 5cm thick.
Unfortunately I didn't take photo of the table beforehand, and only took these towards the end of the work - you can see here the table after the wood filler (Ronseal High Performance wood filler) had been applied but not yet sanded. I started on the un-fillered planks with BriWax as a test, and liked the end result...a lot!
I then sanded down the filler with a 40-grit sanding disc on an angle grinder, there were a few small dips but overall ended up about as level as could hope for. Luckily it was a nice sunny day (a rarity in the UK right now) so the wife and I spent an hour waxing the table with more BriWax and steel wool. This is how the table looked after it's first two coats and a buff with a microfibre cloth.
After a third coat of BriWax, this is what the wood looks like up close....PHWOAR LOOK AT THAT KNOT!
Even though BriWax is not an exterior wax, more meant for furniture - its done a tremendous job on the table and now it is, to a certain extent, water repellent - it just glides across the surface and wipes off. The following weekend we went a little further and ended up sanding down and waxing the bench seats for it as well just because it looks so good.
We'll give it another coat of wax or three before we pack it away for winter, and by that i mean slinging a tarp over it so it lasts a bit longer.
Why not replace the planks? Well, wood and especially chestnut, which is what the table is made of (not cheap pine!), is extremely expensive. Also, the top is not a structural part and in the worst place it was maybe 1.5cm deep in a plank that measures 5cm thick.
Unfortunately I didn't take photo of the table beforehand, and only took these towards the end of the work - you can see here the table after the wood filler (Ronseal High Performance wood filler) had been applied but not yet sanded. I started on the un-fillered planks with BriWax as a test, and liked the end result...a lot!
I then sanded down the filler with a 40-grit sanding disc on an angle grinder, there were a few small dips but overall ended up about as level as could hope for. Luckily it was a nice sunny day (a rarity in the UK right now) so the wife and I spent an hour waxing the table with more BriWax and steel wool. This is how the table looked after it's first two coats and a buff with a microfibre cloth.
After a third coat of BriWax, this is what the wood looks like up close....PHWOAR LOOK AT THAT KNOT!
Even though BriWax is not an exterior wax, more meant for furniture - its done a tremendous job on the table and now it is, to a certain extent, water repellent - it just glides across the surface and wipes off. The following weekend we went a little further and ended up sanding down and waxing the bench seats for it as well just because it looks so good.
We'll give it another coat of wax or three before we pack it away for winter, and by that i mean slinging a tarp over it so it lasts a bit longer.
