Best timber teatment for Summerhouse?

Newbird

We have a new Summerhouse in my sons garden, and as the weather is good, I want to get it treated this week.

Have been told that Rystix is best, but seems difficult to get hold of quickly, no local suppliers, and is £75 for 5 litres, and I'm going to need more than that for the required 3 coats.

My sons can't agree on a colour from the Cuprinol Garden Shades range, which I know is good...so maybe clear is the way to go, just to keep the wood colour.

Any other recommendations? The other Cuprinol and Ronseal products don't come in any acceptable colour either....I want to get started!!

TheGardenGnome

Creosote mixed with engine oil is my tipple of choice - oh and I LOVE the smell too !

Davesnave

TheGardenGnome wrote: »

Creosote mixed withengine oil is my tipple of choice - oh and I LOVE the smell too !

Me too!*

Cue some bright spark telling us we cannot buy creosote any more, but one can, on ebay.....or lots of cans, actually.

To the serious bit....I find Wickes spirit based treatments well-priced and full of lovely VOCs. I think they do a clear one, which is cheaper than the Cuprinol equivalent.

I also found a paint specialist who mixed Sadolin to a particular shade for me, if you prefer the eco-friendly route. I assume a good paint shop would still do that, but it wasn't cheap.

*Before somebody goes off on one, if you are a hen, you appreciate creosote's ability to deter red mite.

miltonskeen

ron seal.... does what it says on......

TheGardenGnome

Is Ron happy about being sealed though?

Lotus-eater

Davesnave wrote: »

*Before somebody goes off on one, if you are a hen, you appreciate creosote's ability to deter red mite.

But the creosote replacement, creocote works just as well, I promise, from personal experience

But hey, it's your health dude.

Davesnave

Lotus-eater wrote: »

But the creosote replacement, creocote works just as well, I promise, from personal experience

But hey, it's your health dude.

I have both, and if you say it works on the mites, I would believe that more than some advert! Horrible things; a friend has them ATM - well, her hen-house does - and she's at her wits' end.

Lotus-eater

Davesnave wrote: »

I have both, and if you say it works on the mites, I would believe that more than some advert! Horrible things; a friend has them ATM - well, her hen-house does - and she's at her wits' end.

Tell her to creocote it. You can do it when the weather is fine for a day, no need to keep the hens out longer than that. Inside and out.
If you give her a hand, you can watch the mites running away from the creocote when it is applied, they absolutely hate it. Start from the bottom up, then any mites that run up are killed when you reach them and they have no-where to go.
I had a problem last year and tried everything, I was pulling my hair out trying all the expensive cures that are advised from the experts, none worked. Then creocote! Bliss.

Lotus-eater

Btw, a good mite monitoring bit of kit, is something I came up with.
You can get some parcel tape, or something similar and wind it upside down around the edge of perches, so the sticky side is out, when the mites come out at night and head for the birds on the perches they get stuck and you can instantly see if you have any.
What I also did, was coat underneath the tape with grease, so mites going underneath were caught as well.

It doesn't actually catch all of them, so isn't really good at eliminating them, but it's very good for seeing what's going on.

Davesnave

Thanks, lotus, great ideas there. I'm seeing said woman today, but she has a husband, so I will probably keep him occupied with the Creocote!

(Apologies to Freebird for hijacking thread)

balloo_2

Home Bargains Have 9litres of Ronseal Timber Care 1 Coat For £5.99 that was cheaper than wilkinsons own brand and a bigger pot.