Decking protection

smcqis

Hi

Just moved property which has an area of decking. It looks untreated, what is the best thing to do with this to protect the wood?

Ebe_Scrooge

Decking oil is one of the common methods.  Probably worth giving it a jet-wash first if it's particularly grubby.  There's loads of different decking oils on the market, with different colourings depending on your preference.

Also worth checking first to make sure it's all sound - if there are any rotten bits, it's pretty easy to replace a couple of boards if needs be.

Jeepers_Creepers

Pressure wash to get it clear of all gunk, moss, algae, carp. Allow to fully dry.

The decking looks to be in good order? Really worth keeping it that way as the cost and hassle of replacing even odd boards will be a pita. So, I would buy a 25 litre can of Everbuild Lumberjack (I picked one up on eBay for only £72 recently - not sure it's still at that price) and a £10 pump-up garden sprayer. With this, liberally soak the boards, focusing particular attention at screw heads and board ends. Note where the joists are running under the boards, and also fire a goodly amount down the gaps there. As far as you can crawl under the decking and give any post ends a good soaking too. Ditto joist ends. Allow to fully dry.

Then the decking world is your oyster. I personally prefer 'oil' rather than 'paint on' coatings as the former will be a lot easier to apply (slap it on) and will also soak in and condition the timber. Add further coats as needed - really worth doing it properly and comprehensibly at the start, and that'll make later routine maintenance much less hassle.

kipsterno1

Another vote for decking oil. Give it a good jet wash and let it dry. I always use 'natural' colour on mine and it really pulls up the grain of the wood. As previous said that looks very dry so give it a good soak.

smcqis

I bought ronseal decking protector, 22 quid for 5litres x 4. Never seen your reply in time jeepers or I prob would have looked into that one more. I’ve done a first coat, need to do another