What is everyone using for sealing wood that will be outside year round? I used thompsons on a wheelchair ramp last year and it looks like it needs redone. I used cabots stain sealer on a picnic table 2 years ago and it needs redone. This will be for oak stake bed sides. Thinking about trying linseed oil but not sure on that yet. I'd really like to not have to reapply yearly. Linseed oil from what I have read looks like I would be doing a lot of applications initially. And than as needed down the road. Whatever that might mean.
Ive been using Ready Seal as of late. It is a stain and sealer in one. I can’t speak for the long term durability of the product since i have only been using it for about a year. I will actually be using some tomorrow on a picnic table if the weather cooperates. It came highly recommend by a painter that I ran into in the stain section at the local farm and fleet. All of the reviews I found online seem to support his recommendation as well, there are lots of them Amazon. I wish I could help with your linseed oil question but I have personally never used it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Haven't used it personally, but Australian timber oil is highly recommended and what I plan on using once my new PT deck bakes in the sun this summer.
That's made by cabot, rather avoid using them. The picnic table I did turned out nice but like I mentioned it's in serious need of stripping and being redone.
I'm thinking of using tung oil now and not the linseed oil. It seems to make more sense for what I want to do. It's supposed to be more water resistant. When I need to reapply it won't need any work other than reapplying. Just picked up my rough cut oak. It's still somewhat green so I probably won't apply anything till the end of summer. I imagine a summer of sitting in the sun should dry it out enough to soak up the oil.
boiled linseed oil can be had sans any varnish additives as well as any drying agents tung oil not sure. linseed minus varnish just reapply no fancy foot work other than a clean surface . Either can be thinned so it soaks in further faster or can be used in something a simple as a garden sprayer.
I used Olympic stain and sealer for my garden timbers. Put on two coats original application, then the next year put on one more coat. Looks great this year even though they get beat on a lot from roof dumpage (snow and rain) pebbles thrown from snow blower and mower etc. However, I don't know how it would hold up to foot traffic. They have a whole bevy of tints available.
I don't think I would use linseed oil on a deck as it provides no UV protection for the wood plus even with solvents added to increase "drying" time it can still take a while. Linseed oil also isn't a great medium for deterring mold and mildew although there are one or two manufacturers that claim to have improved the process of making the oil which improves mildew resistance. I've only used it on a fence as paint as the price was right compared to alternatives and drying time wasn't an issue. And as a wood preservative/conditioner back when windows used glazing putty.
That looks very nice bogieb I used Olympic on my sheds. It's time to restain but I liked the color and seems like a decent product.
I'm not using it on a deck. as per my original post this is for stake bed sides for my flat bed truck. Also that is why I posted I'm leaning more to Tung oil as it does provide some UV protection vs linseed. Not a lot but some..
Real Tung oil takes even longer to "dry" (neither dries, but rather hardens/cures) than linseed oil except that a lot of "fast-curing" Tung oil really doesn't have much tung oil in it and either way your project is probably perfect for it.
Used this on our deck 3 years ago. No issues so far. Still gets dirty of course and I very lightly clean with weak Simple Green solution and scrub with a hair push broom then pressure wash lightly with white (least aggressive) tip.
I am going to buy 100% tung oil and cut it with a solvent it will harden faster. So from what I understand you do the first few coats with a solvent, and the last coat or two straight. Seems most people are using a citrus solvent. I guess I'll see how it actually works in real life. When the oak finally rots out if I still own the truck at the time, it won't be a big deal to burn it.
Before and after shots of my stake sides. I went with 100% pure tung oil. I cut it with citrus oil 50/50 for the first 3 coats. Than did 3 coats of straight tung oil. Used exactly 1 gallon of Tung Oil. Could have used a little more on the last side but made it work. I read someplace it's recommended to keep it out of the sun for 30 days after applying the oil but who has time and space for that? It took a lot longer than I wanted it to, the humidity was so high when I was doing this it was taking 24 hours for the oil to dry enough to do another coat. I didn't want to move it from the saw horse either, so it was drawn out.
What a cool deal!! Bookmarked for upcoming projects, thank you. Previously I used Penofin (brazilian rosewood oil) on our cedar & redwood decks and fences and more in 1998. That stuff cost 3X what I just googled for a gallon of Tung oil and they appear to work similarly, it did a great job besides the odor that never went away (even years later in the hot sun I could still smell it like the day put it down).
The tung oil has a smell to it as well. I wouldn't call it unpleasant or overpowering, but it's not great either. The citrus oil smelled nice though. Unfortunately the citrus oil smell doesn't last long. I don't know how long the smell will last. I don't know what Penofin smells like, so I can't compare. I can definitely smell it when I'm close to the sides.
That is so much better looking than plain wood! It will be interesting to see how long it lasts before needing re-coated, it should only need 1, possibly 2 coats, so won't take as much effort to keep up on it.
