Marc's Outdoor Sitting Bench

[Goober]

I'm wanting to use Marc's plans for a outdoor sitting bench to build a smaller  version to use as a shower bench. My questions are do you think it would be a good idea and what would be the best choice of wood to use? My thoughts would be to use either teak or cypress. Another thing would be what kind of finish should I use?

[treeslayer]

i'm not familiar with Mark's plan but i just re-did our glider in cypress and i'm not going to put anything on it, i think anything i put on it would just have to be redone at some point so why bother? 

[Tpt life]

I’d treat it like a cutting board. Mineral oil only. It will need renewal, but that’s easy. 

[wtnhighlander]

Check the woodwhisperer website for mention of a 'contemplation bench'. As I recall, its part of the free area, and I believe Nicole wound up using it for the shower. I believe it was finished with CPES and Epifanes. Sending up the Bat signal, perhaps @thewoodwhisperer himself may chime in with a long-term durability report.

[Chestnut]

I made a shower bench out of Ipe and it's held up well. Finish wise i uses watco butcher block finish which is 2 years old and is holding well. Showers don't generally get the UV light that outdoor furniture does so what ever finish will last longer. I've had good luck with outdoor defence from the real milk paint company and outdoor oil from general finishes.

[curlyoak]

Teak is a good choice except the price is way too high. Ipe will last forever. A wood I like to use for outdoor is western red cedar. I leave it unfinished. The weakest link weather wise with cedar is end grain legs on the ground will wick up water. I use a piece of high tech slippy plastic 1/2" thick screwed to the bottoms. No more weak link! I like low maintenance so no finish on the cedar. Over time it grays.  Any nice finish will add to the looks of the cedar. But then down the road it will ask you to refinish it. Cypress would be my next choice after cedar. Cypress will need a finish.