9 reasons the chair on your dock is grey
Nine reasons, one of which is the lake itself.
- UV. Sun breaks down lignin, the glue in wood. The fibres let go and go silver.
- UV off the water. A dock gets the sun twice: from above and reflected from the lake.
- Water in the end grain. Every cut end drinks. It swells, dries, splits.
- Frost. The water in the grain freezes and opens the split.
- The stain was a film. It cracked with the wood's movement and let the sun in underneath.
- You missed a year. Everyone does. That year did most of the damage.
- Plated screws. The black streaks under each one are rust, and they are permanent.
- The north side. Shade holds water. That is where the mildew is.
- It is wood. Wood outdoors is a slow negotiation with the weather that the weather wins.
How to stop it happening again
Buy a chair made of something that has no lignin, absorbs no water, and has its color in the material rather than on it. What three summers do.