S&L Spindles Blog

The Value of Wood Fence Post Finials and Gothic Top Finials

Submitted by admin on Mon, 04/16/2018 - 3:39pm

Wood fence post finials serve an important function that is often overlooked. Finials protect the top of a post. Most of us don’t realize how important it is to do so because we assume that if wood is treated it will last a long time.

The problem is with a round post, the wood is treated when it is green and freshly sawn. It’s hard to treat green wood. The treatment protects the outside of the post, but the inside is still susceptible to rotting especially if you don’t keep water from going in the end. This can...Read more

Category: 
General Information

Cedar or Pressure Treated

Submitted by Elam Stoltzfus on Tue, 11/03/2015 - 3:07pm

Cedar Deck Post Cap
Below is a case study of both the cedar and pressure treated products that we use for our products.
"Side by side comparison of cedar and pressure treated" Misconceptions and Myths about Western Red Cedar

Many of us don't like cutting down trees, but recently western red cedar, inland cedar, and other cedar forests have been managed smartly and responsibly, and they have reduced the...Read more

Category: 
Tree Regrowth

Why Deck Railing Paint Fails

Submitted by Elam Stoltzfus on Sat, 08/29/2015 - 4:31pm

Painting wood deck spindles

Deck railing paint can fail prematurely - the following identifies some reasons and remedies.

1. Wood was wet when it was painted. (If only the surface of the wood is wet, then only one sunny day is usually needed for drying prior to painting. If the wood is saturated, several sunny or windy days are necessary).

2. Unfinished railings where exposed to several weeks of sunlight before painting.

Sunlight degrades the unfinished wood surface, thus it will never hold paint as well as fresh wood. If the unfinished wood was ex-posed more than a few days, lightly sand or...Read more

Category: 
Staining and Painting