Built from DIY Pete's plans. I'm in Hawaii so lumber here is a lot, and I do mean A LOT more expensive here. I wanted to use cedar but that would have cost me close to $450 just for the lumber here in Hawaii. Spent an entire day running around between local lumber yard, Home Depot, Lowe's, and a recylce lumber yard called Re-Use Hawaii trying to figure out how to cut costs down. Ended up going with redwood as it was a nice wood that was more affordable. I ended up putting 5 coats of Minwax Helmsman spar urethane clear gloss, sanding with 150 then 220 grit sandpaper to get a nice thick and smooth finish. This is my very first build ever and it took me the weekend (about 20 hours) to build. DIY Pete's instructions are pretty good but I have to watch his video a few times which was extremely helpful. The video made this an easy project as it was like having a pro right there with you. Love your website. Can't wait to start on the next project. David M.