Add oil to wood fence/cabin weather treatment?

[duggie]

You know when you have just painted your fence or wood cabin with it's regular coating of weather treatment ( only ever use the solvent type, not the water-based), and you do it and think, 'Well, that's a good job done', and then it drys and you think, 'Done good, but doesn't look as if its been sealed or a barrier that much against the eliments, that will soon wash off in the rains, seems like it's just been a quick wash of white spirit with some stain in it, but better than nothing'? Well, I have this every time and I keep thinking about adding some engine oil, and building it up each time to get something really going on that will be a good barrier against the rains.

But, then I think about will it be a good thing, will it seal it too much and so not let the preservatives soak in the next time.

Does anyone put a bit of extra oil into the mix?

Or, what do you do, what are your thoughts on this subject?

 

[rich c]

I trust the chemical engineers at the company.

 

[dodgeman]

I know people will put used engine oil on trailer decks to preserve them. I’m talking car haulers and that type of trailer. I have a trailer and use something like Thomason’s Water Seal on it. I personally wouldn’t use motor oil.

 

[AlanDB]

I think something like tung oil mixed into the oil based stain would be a better option than motor oil. I have treated outdoor wood furniture with an annual coat of pure tung oil (hand rubbed). it lasted for years. Pure tung oil takes months to fully cure, but when mixed with solvents it dries and cures much quicker.

 

[duggie]

Never heard of tung oil, but that encourages me, I might start putting a bit of linseed oil into it. The only thing is that the feather-edged boarding is better than it was 15 years ago when new. Maybe i'm just being an 'old woman', as they say here. But, on balance, all in all, I think I will add some linseed oil. How boring is that, eh, haha, us all, but it is a real concern, haha

 

[rich c]

Never heard of tung oil, but that encourages me, I might start putting a bit of linseed oil into it. The only thing is that the feather-edged boarding is better than it was 15 years ago when new. Maybe i'm just being an 'old woman', as they say here. But, on balance, all in all, I think I will add some linseed oil. How boring is that, eh, haha, us all, but it is a real concern, haha

Straight linseed oil will mold and turn the wood black. You need exterior linseed oil properly formulated with mildewcides and algaecides. I've been working wood for 50 years, 24 professionally.

 

[rich c]

Linseed oil has to be better than motor oil.
I work for a cabinet shop working with different varieties of wood. Our paint department uses Linseed oil to bring out the natural colors of wood.
For fence try something marine grade sealant there are tons of colors to choose from, transparent to semi transparent.
Bike pics! I just couldn't help it. Lol

Boiled linseed oil I presume. Natural linseed oil never really cures. It has to have metallic dryers added to cure.

 

[duggie]

rich c ........... yes, boiled, or double boiled I have heard of it. And yes, there will be preservatives, etc, in the formula off-the-shelf creosote.

A couple of years ago I was sorting my girlfriend's back yard gate, it had started rotting on the higher rail. I dug out the rot as best I could. My pal years ago had given me a bit of dry rot treatment, but I'd used that up, but i remember smelling it and thinking 'this is clearly mainly just paraffin', so I put some paraffin into the rotted area of the back gate. It soaked it up, so I continued with multiple applications, then I let it all dry up. Well, it was like stone. I painted it and it has been fine, that part of the gate. So paraffin seems a useful treatment.

Also, Fir tree resin smells like turpentine. In fact I remember seeing a tv prog about turpentine being extracted from a certain wood up in Norway. They just put the wood in an old metal canister, heated it up and turps simply ran out into a collecting tin, and lots of it, all roughly off-grid style, on a beach. So maybe turpentine is a tree's natural preservative against rot etc.

I think what I'll do is a test.......and then post the results back here in 30 years haha.

But this subject is actually very interesting, a science. Telegraph poles, railway sleepers, etc. They seem to last forever with no maintenance treatments.

 

[Jason Knight]

But this subject is actually very interesting, a science. Telegraph poles, railway sleepers, etc. They seem to last forever with no maintenance treatments.

A lot of it is treated. Telegraph poles traditionally are treated with an insecticide / fungicide called Penta. Or more accurately pentachlorophenol. Problem is it just went on the ban list for being a "possible carcinogen" a few years back, and most alternatives are not living up to promises. This means we're going to end up having to replace telephone poles more frequently and have more frequent safety and wear inspections.

Creosote is one of the alternatives, but it's actually nastier than Penta in non-carcinogen ways. The FBI also wants it to be harder to get since it's a common component in fertilizer bombs.

Dichloro-octyl-isothiazolinone -- DCOI -- is the most promising of alternatives, and was approved for ground contact use something like four or five years ago.

On topic, my preferred treatment is deck sealer. Because it's designed to be tough enough for people to walk on, track mud over, etc. Thus it's not a bad choice on all exposed wood surfaces.

Before long all the women in the neighborhood will want to hang out on your deck. Your deck can be the talk of the town. Barbara always loves to get pictures of my deck.

 

[chunk]

Telegraph poles?

and I thought i was old.

 

[Jason Knight]

and I thought i was old.

Predictive type is a curious thing. I often wonder if it's why "barista" is magically back in the vocabulary like we're living in 1920's France and these kids are skilled masters of the percolators and sliced onions, not a glorified wage slave cashier. Part of why I prefer Dunkins over Starbucks. You use the word barista in a DD's they look at you like you have eight heads.

 

[duggie]

chunk........telegraph poles, hahaha haha. I'll get my decking UP to scratch, pal, with that advice, haha.

Jason...........carcinogens, that is what is on my concern list about preservatives. EU have banned crosote, so we have a substitute, but you really feel that the black stuff that does the job ain't it the mix anymore. Barista! Never ever heard of that word. ' I'm going to my local barister for a brew in the morning!'; barister! That takes the biscuit, man.

 

[rayray]

I wouldn’t mess with the chemistry of the stain, as there’s no way to be certain how it will be affected. You might look into the Sikkens brand. I’m not sure which exact stain was used, but my brother had a fence treated with a Sikkens product, and after 5 years it looked like it was stained yesterday.

 

[Jason Knight]

Barista! Never ever heard of that word. ' I'm going to my local barister for a brew in the morning!'; barister! That takes the biscuit, man.

Your lawyer serves you coffee? Though that would be Barrister. Two R's.

Though that's often comedy, when you get Nigerian scam e-mails where they introduce themselves as a barista.

Barista : Coffee Server, traditionally (late 19th / early 20th century) meant highly skilled coffee "chef" who made custom blends to order, knew how to slice the onions and orange peels (eew) to release the most oils. Term is now thrown at glorified cashiers as part of the whole effete hipster BS. See the burnt swill and people smelling their own farts at "Starbucks". Insert Dunkin Donuts plug here.

Barrister : Lawyer specializing in "higher court" cases. (aka most Americans have no clue what that even means)

Bannister : A handrail supported by posts. Type of thing you might put sealant on.

I'm amazed how often in discussion I hear the three of them mixed up. Actually saw a post a few months ago where a guy was talking about how his bannister was defending him in court. Ranks up there with military units going rouge. Better dead than red I guess...