What to seal cracks in deck posts?

[Gearhead00]

The house I bought a year ago has a deck with 6"x6" posts. They have some cracks, and the ends are uncovered. With winter coming I want to seal the cracks and keep water out of the ends to prevent more splitting.

What's the best product to use for this that will take or be covered by semi opaque or opaque stain next spring?

Also, are there ready made 6"x6" post caps out there or will I have to have something custom made?

Thanks.

 

[RStewart]

How about paintable caulk, stain, then a piece of flashing on that? Or are these post able to be sleeved then capped?

 

[rustrunner]

just as rstewart says, and i think you can get the copper caps at home depot.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Boiled linseed oil. Multiple coats. Thin the first coat about 3 to 1 with mineral spirits so it seeps down into the cracks better.

As you apply more coats, it takes longer to dry, especially in cool weather. 3rd and 4th coat could take a week or more.

It probably won't take stain very well once it is hardened and it will hardened to an "epoxy like" coating over time.

 

[Thumper68]

If you really don't like the look of the cracks I would look into covering the post with either a PVC sleeve or 1x8 with 45* corners.

 

[rippered]

I don't like the look of most caps so when I built my fence last year I cut the tops to a 45°. I do also coat the tops with stain often.

 

[epmills]

 

[GTO]

 

[Gearhead00]

It's not so much the appearance of the cracks as it is me trying to increase the longevity of these deck posts since I'll be selling the house in a few years.

I had considered using some of the "caulking" that's a part of various deck restore coatings made for larger cracks, but I'm not sure anything other than that coating would adhere. I don't have a lot of confidence in the "restore" systems being able to adhere properly to the entire deck, otherwise I'd probably do that. Some of the cracks are down the sides of the posts, hence the reason why I was hoping for something that remains pliable and would take paint or stain. If paintable caulk is the simple answer, easy breezy, but I thought perhaps there was a specialty product for this that someone might be aware of.

 

[nit2wn]

Look into Cetol SRD. It's a wood sealer for siding, rails, and decks. It's oil based and has to be brushed on for best results but we liked how it turned out on ours. It won't fill the cracks but it will seal them. Here's the link I used to look into it. Just beware, the stuff isn't cheap. I payed $45 a gallon.

http://www.perfectwoodstains.com/view-product/cetol-srd?category=deck-stains