Best way to finish cypress posts on porch

Staining is purely based on your liking but topcoat go with a marine varnish. By far the best for direct sun. Do not use a poly in the sun

my post are stained and lasted about 3 years from the sun, they are currently being feaux painted like stain. he did my front door painted like stain. his name is rice Sutton. look him up if you wanna go this route. if you're local to baton rouge area.

Agreed if looking to faux stain them. I’ve had Rice do multiple doors for me now and they all have come out fantastic. At my last house it lasted just over 10 years before it just started to peel. I only had it redone to try to help sell it.

As for the cypress, many people I know use and recommend the TWP stain/sealer. It supposedly works great and doesn’t need a top coat. I bought 2 gallons but didn’t like the color so decided not to use it.

I just recently stained my cypress and put 3 coats of Helmsan Spar Urethane. It has done well for me in the past so I went with it. I’ve also heard great things about Manowar.

I had a stained front door and the sun ruined it in less than 3 years. rice did the paint to look like stain. my cypress post began to look bad too so I went this route on them as well. it looks like stain and yes I know I could have done pine beams from the start but he did a friends post recently so that's why I decided to do this. I wont have to worry about staining or fading ever again.

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I wont have to worry about staining or fading ever again.

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TWP in dark oak is what i used on my cypress posts last year. Put two coats of stain and plan on doing 1-2 coats every couple years.

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Tongue oil

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Actually, it's Tung Oil. Don't want the guy thinking he can simply lick his posts and get a good waterproof finish on them.

TWP is good stuff. It comes in several different colors . Check it out.

If you stain them you have to protect them with spar varnish. After initially applying the varnish you’ll want to reapply in 6 months to a year. After that it should last a little longer maybe 1-2 years. I lightly sand then use a 1/4 inch nap roller to apply the spar varnish. If you do this every 1.5 years they’ll look beautiful for a lifetime. 90% of ppl who have these things don’t want to pay someone to do this and are too lazy to do it themselves. It’s a lot of work to do yourself and expensive to have done.
If you DIY it it’s relatively cheap. I use Farrell Calhoun spar varnish bout 35/gallon plus sanding supplies and rollers. Usually < 80 bucks every 1.5 years. If you pay someone it’s about 1K. The labor is what you’re paying for

A great alternative is to not stain and just let them weather naturally. They have a greyish look that’s not bad at all. No upkeep at all.

Yes, you’ll have to lightly clean up the surface to prep for new finish. I just use a sanding block, no need for a power sander when refinishing. I’ve used steel wool in the past as well.

I always put 3 coats on the first application. Then each follow up just one coat. A roller makes the job 10x easier.