used motor oil on fence panels - crazy or not?

seneca · 14 Aug 2008

There's an old boy around my parts who's using used motor oil on his fence - anyone heard of this idea? I thought it was dangerous to do so, both for him and the environment, but he assured me it was fine - he'd been doing it for over 20 years! Surely a can of fence paint is preferable, as well as less hazardous. He seemed to think he was doing his bit for recycling! I'm not totally sure, but doesn't it contain carcinogens and has a tendency to leach out and contaminate soil/water. Also, it made his fence black. I know oil is a great preserver for wood, but surely boiled linseed oil is different to engine oil. Curious if anyone has any views on it. Must say, it's new to me.

Come to think of it - isn't engine oil highly flammable? Will it make his fence burn down quicker than one treated with cuprinol?

breezer · 14 Aug 2008

donkeys years ago our at the time neighbour used to add engine oil to the cresote, yes the fence was black, but it was still the same fence when we moved

Woodster66 · 14 Aug 2008

yep its and old thing, not that many years ago people used to add used engine oil to creosote to make it go a bit further, my ol man did it all the time and it worked well, fences didn't seem to rot out as much as they do these days with the modern stuff, although environmentally he would be shot if the authorities knew what he was doing

And engine oil isn't highly flammable unless it becomes seriously hot, if it was everyones car engine would be setting on fire, so there's no chance of his fence burning down!

seneca · 15 Aug 2008

ok, so I suppose it's not recommended now, on account of damaging the enivironment. The principle must be sound, though I still have my doubts about risk to personal health.
Mixing with creosote - I suppose that was slightly better than using it neat. I understand that creosote is now banned. Am I right? If so, on what grounds was it banned? Personal health, environment or both?
I've emailed a scientific minded person I know to ask him what he thinks, just out of interest. I'll let you know when he gets back to me.... that is if anyone is interested.
I suppose it's going to come down to aesthetics (looking nice) versus function (stopping the rot.) Personally, I'll replace my golden oak panels after 10 years and not have a black fence. Hopefully, the environment and I will be a little healthier. (is there an emoticon for smugness!)

Woodster66 · 15 Aug 2008

Creosote is a mixture of chemicals prepared by the distillation of coal tar and contains chemicals which are probable carcinogens and skin and respiratory irritants.

Although I used to like the smell of creosoted wood LOL it was phased out by the nutters of the EEC in 2003 for DIY use, I dont know of many people that it affected and it wasn't that long ago that everyone used it for fence panels etc and I think it was a lot better at the job it was intended for than most of todays products!

breezer · 15 Aug 2008

i slightly disagree, creosote is ok so long as you want it in black.

Sparrow2 · 29 Aug 2008

My parents' neighbour always used to mix engine oil with creosote - the fence was 30 years old and not a bit of rot in site. The modern fence treatments I find comparitively useless for anything other than making the fence pretty for a while. They still rot as quickly as if there was no treatment at all. I've tried all types including the wax enriched ones.

The only thing we had to remember with the oil/creosote treatment, was not to lean on the fence otherwise it made a mess of our clothes.

toptec · 30 Aug 2008

My Father in Law was a Turbine Engineer at Poole Power Station in the 70's. (Now a housing estate!). He used to bring home heavy oil and paint all his fences. There was never any damage to surrounding ground and certainly didn't smell.

Yes they were black, yes they used to mark your clothes for a couple of years but he still has panels up now that were erected in 1977. They have gone a nice dark brown now.

As for creosote, I am lucky enough to have a 5 gallon barrell of it. Found it in the shed when I moved here a year ago. It will be used on my fence at the bottom of the garden when can I get around to it.

GMasterleigh · 8 Aug 2018

I just randomly came across this, and was interested though an old thread. Creosote is still available here in Portugal and widely used. I've used it, with linseed oil where appearances mattered, with used engine oil where it doesn't.

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used motor oil on fence panels - crazy or not?

breezer

breezer

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