Best fence treatment to prevent Graffiti paint sticking / aid removal?

swajarbal

Hi all. We have had a new timber fence installed that faces a public footpath (narrow alleyway).

Can anyone suggest a good product that will help minimise graffiti from being absorbed into the wood, or make it easier to clean off?

Would a wood treatment such as Barrettine be better, or something waxy like Curprinol Ducksback / Ronseal Fence Life Plus?

Thanks 

Slinky

We did ours with dark creocote, not the most attractive thing, but it served to make the fence disappear into the background of our garden - obviously depends how big your garden is. We never had graffiti on our fence although others further along the alley did. We thought that the colour and smell served to keep people from wanting to go near it as they'd get their hands or clothing dirty.

ashe

Doubt any will otherwise would be used everywhere 

any space at all on the other side? Plant something there like ivy? 

swajarbal

ashe said:

Doubt any will otherwise would be used everywhere 

any space at all on the other side? Plant something there like ivy? 

Unfortunately not, as the fence is on the boundary line, and beyond that is a tarmac path which belongs to the council.

GDB2222

I'm with creosote, any colour. Plus a sign saying 'wet creosote', as otherwise somebody will complain that they brushed against it and ruined their <whatever it is they want a new one of>.

swajarbal

GDB2222 said:

I'm with creosote, any colour. Plus a sign saying 'wet creosote', as otherwise somebody will complain that they brushed against it and ruined their <whatever it is they want a new one of>.

I don't think you can still buy creosote as a consumer, it's only available to professionals. Having spent thousands on the fence itself, I'm reluctant to pay someone else to come and paint it.

Quorden

It's Creocote these days, similar to Creosote but with the nasty bits taken out..

Bendy_House

Sadly, Creocote is not a preservative like creosote; it just colours the wood and repels water.

I wonder if a 'waterseal'-type product would help? Silicone-based and designed to prevent penetrating water, I'd imagine it would also repel other solvents, at least to some degree.

And think of what colour to make the fence first, that'll make it less appealing (visible) to graffiti. I imagine a very dark oak stain? Once that fully dries/weathers, then Waterseal it.

That's pure guesswork, of course.

Slinky

Bendy_House said:

Sadly, Creocote is not a preservative like creosote; it just colours the wood and repels water.

I wonder if a 'waterseal'-type product would help? Silicone-based and designed to prevent penetrating water, I'd imagine it would also repel other solvents, at least to some degree.

And think of what colour to make the fence first, that'll make it less appealing (visible) to graffiti. I imagine a very dark oak stain? Once that fully dries/weathers, then Waterseal it.

That's pure guesswork, of course.

The fence my Dad erected for me in 1996 is still standing and in very good condition. Admitedly in its early days the panels were soaked liberally with a mixture of creosote and used engine oil......... not the sort of thing you'd want to be using today, but now you can't get the creosote, the creocote did a pretty good job. The key thing is the barge boards and the posts. If you don't keep the wood clear of the soil, it will rot. Concrete posts are way better than wood. We had wooden barge boards but they were resting on half bricks at either end to keep an air gap underneath.

Bendy_House

There's a wooden closed-board fence with 4x4 posts set directly into concrete down the side of my house. It was put up before I moved in, so it's 20+ years old and is still completely solid. Whatever toxic preservative they used back then was clearly awesome!

The section I put up at the bottom of the garden just 5 years ago was flattened by Arwen, and the amount of rot that had begun in much of it is astonishing.

Anyhoo, just making folk aware that Creocote is NOT a preservative, so will NOT prevent rot. It simply colours the timber and repels water.