Loading…
30
Appreciation post: my $22 plastic deck box outlasted my $300 cedar chest by 3 winters
I bought a cheap rubbermaid deck box for $22 back in 2019 just to keep the kid's pool toys dry. My neighbor bought a fancy cedar chest for around $300 the same summer and kept bragging about how it would age nice. Fast forward to now and his cedar box has a cracked lid, water stains, and a bottom that is basically mulch from sitting on wet concrete. My plastic box is faded to a weird gray and the latch is loose but everything inside is bone dry after 3 winters of snow and rain. I think the real problem was he never sealed the wood or put it on a pallet so it sat in a puddle, but he blames the material. Anyone else think wood outdoor boxes are way overrated for wet climates?
1 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In1 Comment
wilson.olivia7d ago
I read somewhere that cedar actually holds up fine if you treat it right, the problem is people treat it like it's magic and skip the basics. The oil in the wood helps with bugs and some rot, but it still soaks up water if it's sitting in a puddle with no airflow under it. A pallet or a couple of bricks makes a huge difference, same with a coat of sealer every year or two. So yeah, wet climates are rough on wood, but it's less about the material and more about how it's set up. Your buddy basically built a sponge holder on wet concrete.
0