Son wants to replace the wood on his redhead with Durawood


 
Hmmmm. I had always assumed it had some heat resistance properties. But if not, then finding a suitable vinyl decking board would be a worth while endeavor.
 
THyde said:
Thanks guys. I suppose I'll just go ahead with my plan to refinish some oak slats I have with actual spar polyurethane instead of interior poly and see how long it lasts. I want to get that concrete off of the frame, and then treat some areas of the frame with POR-15. Never ends! But then again, the grill is in great shape and I don't mind keeping up with the maintenance. It's easily by a lot the best grill I've ever had.

Slainte!

Tim
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Tim, why not just use the cedar just cut to length and use the spar. Its going to be cheaper than the oak and the oak really is not made for outside, Jon used it on a project maybe he can chime in on how its holding up but really I think the cedar is a better choice for most.
 
^^^^^^This!!! Use some cedar. It holds up outdoors much better than oak. Also a good SPAR urethane. Stay away from the poly for outdoors, you'll have to refinish too often. I had to touch up at about 3 years. Just hit the slats lightly with the orbital, and brushed on two more coats of the 'marine grade urethane' (while the slats were still on the grill). quick and slick. only did the exposed top of the slats as the bottom looked like the day I first finished them.
 
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I used cedar with teak oil. I wish I had used Spar. It is holding up ok, but it stains easily as the teak oil doesnt really seal it.
 
LMichaels said:
Durawood is nothing more than Trex. It's NOT heat resistant which is why Weber makes sure to use a heat baffle on that left side of the grill. I would not hesitate to use it one bit. IMO superior to trying to keep real wood looking good
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I must be missing this heat baffle. What does it look like?
 
The picture above of my gen 2000 those durawood slates are 21 years old and still look great, also they are easy to clean and almost maintenance free.
 
Brian B Atlanta said:
Tim, why not just use the cedar just cut to length and use the spar. Its going to be cheaper than the oak and the oak really is not made for outside, Jon used it on a project maybe he can chime in on how its holding up but really I think the cedar is a better choice for most.
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I would not argue that cedar - or redwood if you are so fortunate to be able to get it - is the better choice for weather resistance. I do really love my dark stained red oak, though. With multiple coats of McCloskey Man-O-War (shout out to you, Brian for the great recommendation) spar varnish it seems to be doing ok so far. I have no doubt that it will have to be redone in a few years. For one grill that you really want the oak look I think it is worth the effort. If you go with the red oak, buy and lay on the McCloskey in at least three or four coats.

Durawood or maybe repurposed artificial deck material are certainly very valid options and can look really nice. Durawood looks best to me on black hood grills like Rich’s.
 
I will try and remember to take/post a photo of it Bruce but basically a piece of "U" shaped sheet metal about 11" long or so
 
Larry, no need. I know what the heat shield looks like. I just reattached the one on the Skyline tonight that I was working on. I was thinking that the Durawood had some kind of heat resistant properties over regular vinyl since that is what Weber used for their grills knowing it would be exposed to much higher than normal heat.
 
Thanks guys. Been traveling for work the past few days, and when I do that I tend not to log on here. I don't need work computer people knowing about my personal life :)
 
It's not even that I just don't like people knowing any more about me than I want them to know. Squirrely maybe but who cares what I do when I'm not at work? Me, not them. Our privacy generally speaking is compromised, and we do it to ourselves. Facebook is George Orwell's 1984, except Orwell didn't even imagine that we would do it to ourselves.
 
I know it's an old thread but does anyone have new thoughts/opinions for replacing the durawood slats other than recycling from donor grills?

I'm wondering about using cedar with marine spar varnish or trex material. Ideally to find a source where I don't have to do as much cutting/planing/sanding.
 
Cedar with marine grade spar urethane would probably be the longest lasting wood option, other than redwood which is unavailable in large parts of the country. I am very attracted to the Trex ideas, since there are so many color and wood grain options. I have the same questions raised before: What happens when you cut it into thinner pieces? Can you preserve the look and still make it into slats? Also, if you convert from wood to Durawood or Trex, you will need to add that baffle that Weber used, or some other spacer to keep it from melting. Even with that, you might experience some warping/melting if your grill gets really hot for a long enough time. Better plan to have replacement pieces handy!
 
When you cut the trex, it leaves an unfinished edge, it also can't really be routed on the top to round the cuts either. If you can leave them whole then it would probably be a nice option.
 
When I did my grills, I used Ipe that was leftover from when I built our deck. Ipe is so dense a wood that it doesn't float. Insects can't chew it and it has the same fire rating as concrete. It may be expensive, but you will never have to replace it again.

Gerry
 
CWalker said:
When you cut the trex, it leaves an unfinished edge, it also can't really be routed on the top to round the cuts either. If you can leave them whole then it would probably be a nice option.
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I think you could use a flat black or a complementary color to paint the raw edges and not have it look too bad, but yeah, not the ideal.
 
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