I just used olympic elite exterior wood sealer on my rough cut pine chicken coop. Has held up well after 5+ years.
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I was just trying to figure out what to use for this a few weeks ago. Normally, when a deck is getting worn, I replace the planks with trex- itâs the part where water sits and most needs protection. But I donât have a good solution for the spindles- I havenât found any cost-effective yet strong substitutes for PT wood.
These spindles are vertical and under the slight protection of the horizontal railing (another trex board). In the past, Iâve just left them as is. I definitely wouldnât want to stain or paint them, as that just adds maintinance when they start to peel and look bad.
I actually had turnover on the unit for this deck, so I decided to try stain it with a clear sealer and see:
1- How long it takes
2- If it makes much difference in the long-run durability
So far, I found:
1- It is a bit of a pain to do. It took 2-3 hours for a small deck. I wasnât thrilled to see that the fine print calls for a lot of prep work. Rather than using a stripper to clear the glaze work, I gave the entire thing a quick sand, then painted it with a staining pad.
2.) No idea on the long term implications. Maybe Iâll update this thread in 5-10 years 
The âclearâ transparent stain did change the color a bit, making it darker, even after drying.
As a control, here is another deck on the same building, which faces the same direction.
And yes, those are figs along the wall to the right in the last pic!
One other thought- whatever you do, I wouldnât plan to do it ever again if you are going to have vines growing on it. If you have a kiwi or grape vine climbing all over this thing, you will barely be able to get to parts of it in a few years. Best to not have anything applied which requires re-application (or risks peeling off and looking bad).
Iâve been wrestling with my hardy kiwis, trying to get them under control for years, taking increasingly harsh actions. For some of them, I decided that they were in just too small of a space and got rid of the vine entirely. If it wasnât for that harsh pruning, you wouldnât be able to see the trellis at all in this pic.
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The main ingredients used in the Eco Wood, boron and boric acid have been used together as a wood preservative for centuries everywhere bamboo is grown as a commercial crop.
Both ingredients are very cheap especially the borax, think 20 Mule Team.
The ratio is 3:2, borax:boric acid.
Ive been harvesting and preserving bamboo for many years although i might note that, in the regions of the world where this is common, this treatment is not considered adequate for ground contact.
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I use Australian Timber Oil⌠ymmv but it works for me here on my decks and my counter tops and floorâŚ
Lots of videos and posts about it so my info brings nothing new to the table.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Decks/comments/13s2ir5/stained_10month_old_deck_and_fence_with_cabot/
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âlinseed oil for penetration, alkyds for durability, and tung oil for color depth and water repellency. It also contains iron oxide pigments for UV absorption and protectionâ
Per a quick search it looks like the product is a blend of linseed and tung and iron oxide, which is like what I was going to make myself, plus alkyds. Iâll look more into this product too. Thank you!
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Tung oil dilluted with mineral spirits 50/50.
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Ive been unsure if mineral spirits is safe for the grapes, but I think after the curing time it should be fine, especially since my grapes will be on the wires between the wood anyway (when they behave)
Mineral spirits will usually evaporate in a matter of minutes-temperature matters. You can also buy tung oil dilluted with citrus solvents.
The M1 Garand rifle was originally sealed with a linseed oil finish, but was changed to tung oil when linseed proved inferior.
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tung is much better for anything that will get a lot of handling. rifle stocks getting handled a lot is why that choice. I would say the same for a railing, if people are gonna be touching the wood a lot tung will hold up lots better. gets a nice sheen on it after a while too
linseed is better for just general exposure to the elements from what Iâve seen in my own use. like my rocking chair I finished with tung, but the porch boards I used linseed.
using oil paint as an art medium I think about it more from that perspective too
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"Thank you for reaching out to Cabot Online. We appreciate your inquiry.
Unfortunately, we do not have testing to show that it would be safe to use on that surface. We advise against using our product on surfaces that come in contact with anything being ingested.
Best,
Kathryn "
FWIW they said DONâT use it for food applications
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yeah its a slippery slope⌠some folks can find issues with treated lumber or cinder blocksâŚespecially railroad ties.
Alot of folks grow strawbs, and things under plasticâŚthen theres the olâ microplastics debate.
I coat my trailer deck and some of my decks in used diesel oil and diesel fuel⌠for some reason the stuff i haul on it and the stuff around my decks does amazing regardless.
Im not sure if anything is âsafeâ if you put it to scrutiny.
Maybe use logs or timbers or cedar or something.?
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I am more inclined to view tung oil as an indoor/outdoor finish, and linseed oil as an indoor finish. Linseed oil is great on indoor furniture.
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That Eco Wood Treatment looks very intriguing, I will have to remember that next time I make a bedâŚ
If you are going for protection then âStainsâ provide no value. Anything that is an âOilâ provides short term outdoor protection at best, some oils provide none, oils are a decorative finish for anything outdoors. âOil Finishâ does not mean âOilâ, just the manufacturer is saying it looks like an oil on the wood. Varnishes are protective and you can spend as much or as little money as you want on various formulations for outdoor use. The good ones will have a lot of UV inhibitors but all will break down over time and require stripping / sanding off to refinish.
Paint is overlooked as a protective finish and you cannot beat it for the money. It is also the easiest to reapply. I schlop the cheapest exterior latex over my beds and need to touch it up every 3-5 years.
Just finished up this bed over the weekend
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Some great insights in here in shellac, beeswax, and more. I may try out some of these
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The biggest problem your going to run into with anything your using on your wood, whether its paint, stain, oil, latex or whatever is the ground contact portion of the wood. This is the place where most everything you find in the box stores will fail. Paints are worthless here. Latex stains are worthless here. If your using a âclearâ oil based stain thats not going to be as good as one thats not clear.
In the âgood old daysâ wood preservatives that you could pu
rchase and brush on or soak the wood in used to be available but since the banning of one of the most important ingredients, Penta, the manufactures of these products disappeared.
Here is the recipe for what was known as FPL stain, (Forest Products Laboratories, USDA) :
5 gallon batch
boiled linseed oil 3 gal
turpentine or paint thinner 1 gal
for color - burnt sienna in oil 1 pt
for color - raw umber in oil 1 pt
paraffin wax 1 lb
penta concentrate 10:1 1/2 gal
zinc stearate 2 oz
If anyone is interested i can copy the detailed instructions for making this concoction.
Penta is still available in lab test amounts, very expensive. Also plenty available overseas cheap although im definitely not recommending smuggling.
Of course if you live in a dry enough climate you may not even need to be that concerned with it. I certainly do, with 80" of annual rain and every kind of micro and macro organism there is just looking to dissolve any stick of wood that touches the ground.
This is why I use all steal posts in my trellised organic orchards. I believe they will last my lifetime with no maintenance.
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ah. the olâ pentachlorophenal. a friend has whats left of a 55 gal. drum of the stuff. stinks as bad as it is for the enviroment. he painted his entire log cabin with penta mixed with boiled linseed and pine tar. if you walk by near his cabin on a warm sunny day you can smell the stuff off gassing. its probably banned because someone used it indoors and got sick from it.
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you bet! its always the irresponsible use of products, pesticides that get them in the headlines then its the chickin little syndrome.
This is what happened with Nicotine. A fine, organic insecticide that was #1 in the arsenal of organic growers but of course even common sense, besides the label, would tell you that using it in a greenhouse will kill you. So now its gone.
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We stained our new dock, after a year of weathering (pressure-treated pine), with the Defy Extreme.
One year out, it still looks good⌠But we should have picked a cooler day than July 4 to stain. Im not sure that i got the penetration that Iâd have preferred, as it dried very rapidly on that hot simmer sun.
Cleanup was pretty easy.
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