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I am looking to fix up this bench and trying to order replacement wood, but what type of wood is it?

It looks to me like white oak. Or is it just faded in the sun? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

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isherwood
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Ashley Reid
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  • Do you have any idea how old this bench is and how long it has been sitting out in the weather unprotected? That could help identify the wood based on weathering patterns and what type of wood would typically have been used at the time. – Bart van Ingen Schenau May 22 '23 at 11:32
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    If there's a piece that's still good, perhaps you could cut it lengthwise to see what it might look like, unweathered. Having said that, though, unless you paint it afterward, nothing you get will match the rest of it. – Huesmann May 22 '23 at 11:35
  • I think at one time it was painted with white paint. Most outside wood needs to have protection(paint/stain) on it. After it is repaired you will need to paint it, so the choice/type of wood it is now is less of a problem. – crip659 May 22 '23 at 11:37
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    Looks a lot like teak but can't tell for sure. – Machavity May 22 '23 at 12:36
  • A closeup of the wood would be great. I can't tell anything from way back here. Wild guesses are cedar and redwood. – isherwood May 22 '23 at 13:06
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    Be aware that a bench with that much decay probably has more hidden decay. You're putting users at risk unless you inspect it very carefully. – isherwood May 22 '23 at 13:08
  • I am not sure about the type of wood, but it looks like decking timber. And, at least in this part of the world, decking timber has changed size over the years, So you may have to use a thicknesser to match it. I think you should replace the whole lot. – Rohit Gupta May 22 '23 at 13:39
  • Most benches of this sort of design I've seen either are or claim to be teak. Accurate wood identification is not easily done via the internet, but see if your library has **Idendifying Wood** by R. Bruce Hoadley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Bruce_Hoadley – Ecnerwal May 22 '23 at 13:55
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    Planning/scraping/sanding the weathering off one of the faces might also help identify it. Though I agree that if it's going to be painted a match doesn't matter, and that it needs a full inspection at least. Easier to replace lots of stuff now than to do it piecemeal over subsequent seasons. – keshlam May 22 '23 at 13:58
  • @Ecnerwal thanks for the link – Ashley Reid May 23 '23 at 10:27

2 Answers2

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I think you're asking the wrong question. This wood is heavily weathered, so even if you get the exact same species, the new wood won't look like the old. Unless you paint it, in which case there's no reason to get matching wood. Here's what you should be asking instead:

  1. What's the best wood to use for outdoor furniture? If I was doing this, I'd probably use black locust, since it's tough, it's rot-resistant, and I know a local place where I can get it cheap. I'm sure other people can suggest some other type.
  2. Is this bench even worth repairing? If the surface pieces are rotten, then there might be more rotten pieces that you can't see. How much wood are you willing to replace before it starts to make more sense to just replace the whole thing?
Mike Baranczak
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Could be teak, ipe, or several other similar tropical hardwoods that weather in this pattern. The rot is very plank-specific, and you can buy typical planks in a 2 foot length that will weather to this in a couple years. In the meantime, worth sanding it and sealing it with a UV-blocking water repellent oil; some of those have stains in them as well.

This probably is worth repairing.

gbronner
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  • I think It was probably Teak, I had advice from someone who saw it too. The bench actually belongs to a friend's relative, and they decided that it was not work the material cost to repair/oil etc when it would cost only a little more to buy a new one. Very sad it seems that to be the solution so much nowadays. – Ashley Reid May 23 '23 at 10:31
  • Sigh. I happen to have those planks sitting around. Fixing it would take less time than going to the store and assembling a new one. – gbronner May 23 '23 at 20:08