Much visited subject - decking treatment

Sunflower yellow.

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well that rules out almost everything! Paint, oil & varnish remain in any colour or colourless, pick your take.

Do yourself one favour & avoid sunflower yellow. DAMHIKT!

NT

Sunflower Yellow is a lovely colour. For sunflowers. :-)

Is decking oil better than varnish? What about the things like No Nonsense Anti-Slip Decking Stain? Gets some excellent reviews - then two awful ones.

Put some castrol motor oil on it. Then you can slip up and break a few bones.

He can do that without putting anything slippery on it. The usual winter accumulation of algae and slime will turn it into a skating rink.

Diesel oil mixed with castrol, and then start a bonfire on it is the best treatment.

I won't buy anything 'no nonsense'. IME it's nothing but nonsense.

Oil vs varnish: 2 very different finishes. Just pick what you want. For an oil finish, engine oil can be cheap, but used oil darkens the wood a good bit.

Stain & finishes that have slip or not are 2 separate things. I would almost never suggest using coloured varnishes indoors, they chip & look awful. This process will happen far more outdoors.

NT

The Medway handyman who used to post on here always recommended using decking oil. He apparently built lots of decks. I have a small decking area and followed his advice and have been happy with the result. The oil comes in various finishes but needs renewing annually in my experience. John M

Thank you. That is helpful.

Clear decking oil. Not stain. If it says on the can that you can wash brushes in water, don't buy it!

Decking oil soaks into the timber, everything else forms a top coating. You can re coat oil just by cleaning it & slapping on another coat.

I often think the awful reviews are from idiots who screwed up.

Dexking isn't slippery if kept reasonably clean. I've built hundreds, never heard of anyone slipping over.

If you go for an oil finish[1], then its easy to top up again, but you will probably need to give it another coat each year to look good.

Film finishes (e.g. varnishes look good and can last a few years, but are harder to touch in if they crack or fail - so you need the discipline to re-coat *before* they show signs of needing it.

The other option is a spirit based wood preservative which includes a oil/wax protection. Those give a flat colour look, but also impart some water repelling properties. (I tried the Barrattine wood protective treatment (Toolstation) last year on some outside furniture. Been quite impressed with that - it all held up nicely though the winter, and is still water repellent)

Thank you Dave.

I have reached that point - nice to have it confirmed.

Any suggestions as to the best value? Probably only need 2.5L for now.

Dratted Toolstation appear to have almost nothing available for delivery. And the nearest branch is too far away to be viable.

How about:

My neighbour has decking, installed by the previous owner in

I walked across this decking to speak to the guy who was replacing the far boundary panels in January, and it was like a skating rink. She doesn't bother with gardening etc so the surface of the decking has never been cleaned or treated.

Most people seem to acknowledge that timber decking gets slippery if it is not constantly cleaned, and is dangerous for older people.

Outdoor walkways built by organisations aware of public liabliity tend to have chicken netting nailed to them. Very effective, if a little lacking aesthetically.

They have a minimum £100 order. :-(

Google finds others: