White Ash - Most effective way to protect & repair cracks in outdoor enviroments?


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Hey everyone

I've got a step project & our weather has got the best of it, as you can see from the pics the stair treads have begun to crack. (I live in eastern Pennsylvania, I think the cracks were due to freezing) I understand White ash was not the best species for an outdoor project like this but this was all I was able to find that was dried and ready to go after calling many local Sawmills.

What would you recommend is the best thing to use to fill these cracks and then seal them so this hopefully doesn't continue? After staining I put one or two coats of Olympic Waterguard which I picked up from Home depot, but these cracks showed up only months later

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I'm a noob with all this!

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20200621_171352.jpg

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I don’t think it’s from freezing. They are outside, getting rained on, soaked, and then blasted by the sun for rapid drying. I don’t think there is much that will stop it or prevent it in the future. You could fill with epoxy and then refinish, but it won’t take long for the process to repeat itself. Even the “outside” woods will crack like that if exposed the weather and sun. They just don’t rot as much and resist bugs better.

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If you remove the treads, and refinish them 100%, you can slow moisture absorption & release, but not stop it. The only method I know that can prevent those cracks completely is to infuse the wood with stabilizing resin. That precess requires a vacuum pot, and isn't generally considered financially viable for pieces that size. 

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