Building a shed with SYP lap siding. Looking for suggestions for a finish that is not paint. It may only be pine but the grain is too nice to hide.
I spray all my pine out buildings with BLO(boiled linseed oil) mixed 50/50 with mineral spirits. I spray them every 2-3 years.
Go with a high quality solid colored stain then a latex paint over that with the same color. The grain will show through and durability will be amazing. A professional painter who buys my lap siding turned me onto that trick and he was right. I have done that in our milking parlor and there is zero peel, pop, wear, multiple years later.
This is what we've used on our kilns.
We have made some stain/coating (you may find it doing a search for Uncle Larry's wood stain) out of 10 parts mineral spirits, 1-2 parts roofing tar, 1 part boiled linseed oil.
We've also used diesel and burnt motor oil but the burnt motor oil stinks for a long time.
For years, Sikkens Cetol was considered to be the best stain finish on the market. It is now sold in the USA as PPG Prolux.
For a clear finish, General Finishes Exterior 450 is pretty darn good.
I've used Cabots Australian Timber Oil with good results. I have a deck built with untreated lumber that I apply ATO to about every other year. I think that's pretty good for the Arizona sun at 6500' with mountain winters.
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Well I went with Cabots semi transparent deck stain because the boss wanted a color. Overall I am pretty happy with the results since it is my first project to go from felling to milling to assembly and the only plans I had were in my head.
I used Ready Seal for my deck, mailbox post, hand rails and more around the house. Fool proof stain, and has held up great after 3 years. For my deck(pressure treated) I stained it twice. I did it one day, and did it again the next day. It has held up great, but I can't recall why I did it twice. Everything else I did just once and it looks the same. This brand here... I'll probably stain it again next spring and hopefully I'll have a spray gun by then. I would use this stuff on outdoor furniture etc... In fact when I get around to those adirondack chairs I plan to.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EIVY5OO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1