Hi,
I put in 100sq feet of Red Cedar decking about 4 years ago & I'd just like to share my Deck oil experience with you all.
I aged the deck for 6 months to remove the mill glaze & oiled the deck with the "the one on the can" deck oil, if i remember correctly it cost about €350.00 to cover the deck, looked nice for the summer, was bleached and grey by winter, got slapped about over the winter & didn't look very fresh come spring.
The next year I went for a very expensive deck oil, I wont mention any names but it was €100 per tin, cost about 500 for the deck, same story, tired looking by October, bone dry by April.
The next year on advice from somebody, I tried ,wait for it, Milking machine oil, wouldn't recommend it, stayed fresher looking, more mildew though.
This was all getting bit/very expensive & mildly ludicrous.
This year & I'm currently in the middle of it, I did some research & came up with the following:
Commercial deck oils are basically a mixture of Boiled Linseed Oil, Thinners & wood preservative.
All these products can be sourced in Ireland in bulk & mixed up by yourself, I bought mine in Kilcoole in Wicklow, wont drop any names Google "Boiled Linseed OIL".
The mixed oil seems to flow & penetrate the same as the commercial variants, but comes out at less than half the cost. I paid €230 for the ingredients and should have enough for 3 years oil out of it.
I mix it at 5 parts LO/5 parts thinners/1 part wood preservative (DARK BROWN CBD).
The resultant oil does not have the same warmth of the commercial variety's, it's quite dark with the brown CBD, I'm happy with it though, as the wood looks refreshed.
I don't expect the deck to look any fresher next year, but at least next years oil is already paid for.
Will update if anyone is interested.
By the way great forum!
I put in 100sq feet of Red Cedar decking about 4 years ago & I'd just like to share my Deck oil experience with you all.
I aged the deck for 6 months to remove the mill glaze & oiled the deck with the "the one on the can" deck oil, if i remember correctly it cost about €350.00 to cover the deck, looked nice for the summer, was bleached and grey by winter, got slapped about over the winter & didn't look very fresh come spring.
The next year I went for a very expensive deck oil, I wont mention any names but it was €100 per tin, cost about 500 for the deck, same story, tired looking by October, bone dry by April.
The next year on advice from somebody, I tried ,wait for it, Milking machine oil, wouldn't recommend it, stayed fresher looking, more mildew though.
This was all getting bit/very expensive & mildly ludicrous.
This year & I'm currently in the middle of it, I did some research & came up with the following:
Commercial deck oils are basically a mixture of Boiled Linseed Oil, Thinners & wood preservative.
All these products can be sourced in Ireland in bulk & mixed up by yourself, I bought mine in Kilcoole in Wicklow, wont drop any names Google "Boiled Linseed OIL".
The mixed oil seems to flow & penetrate the same as the commercial variants, but comes out at less than half the cost. I paid €230 for the ingredients and should have enough for 3 years oil out of it.
I mix it at 5 parts LO/5 parts thinners/1 part wood preservative (DARK BROWN CBD).
The resultant oil does not have the same warmth of the commercial variety's, it's quite dark with the brown CBD, I'm happy with it though, as the wood looks refreshed.
I don't expect the deck to look any fresher next year, but at least next years oil is already paid for.
Will update if anyone is interested.
By the way great forum!