Overheard a guy at Lowe's say polyurethane is just glorified varnish

He was telling his buddy to just use floor wax on his new deck instead. Took everything I had not to chime in, but after 8 years of refinishing outdoor furniture I've seen wax peel off inside of a season. Anyone else run into bad advice at the hardware store that makes you cringe?

2 comments

2 Comments

janac511mo ago

Last year my neighbor put wax on his brand new cedar deck in June and by September it looked like crap with these weird white patches everywhere. He spent all last weekend sanding it back down and now he's going with polyurethane anyway. I get that wax seems easier and cheaper upfront, but you're basically just asking for more work down the road. Polyurethane might take more effort to apply but at least it actually bonds to the wood instead of sitting on top like a temporary coating.

ben4861mo ago

Wait seriously? June to September and it already looked like garbage with white patches everywhere? That's insane, I thought wax was supposed to be the lazy man's go-to for decks but that's a total fail. Sounds like your neighbor learned the hard way that wax just melts off and leaves a mess.