Exposed rafter tails....help.

[Weegt]

I'm not sure where this post fits best, any advice or bump to the most useful forum would be much appreciated.

A house we bought a few years ago is becursed with perhaps the most annoying thing ever - exposed rafter tails. The timbers are pressure treated but weathered, and I am looking to treat them with something. (A fecking awful and laborious job on a big house).

I tried some Barretine Wood Preserver on a corner to see how it would go:

It looked not too bad, but what a pain in the arse using oil/spirit based, where it is so thin....invariably drips on the masonry paint and becomes indelible.

Is this a good option to use for the wood....will it cause any issues? It's not too sealing to prevent breathability etc? Anyone any other suggestions?

I have also some pine tar/flax oil/gum turpentine that I planned to use....but mixing that with the iron oxide pigment is going to make it all interminably worse of a job.

Any thoughts much appreciated. Ta.

 

[JohnD]

I had an older house where they were painted in oil based gloss. luckily the roof overhang gives some weather protection.

looking at my neighbour's house, he has decorative barge boards, also painted in gloss. he had it done profesionally and says it is one of the new microporous water paints. Might be Sikkens?

I wouldn't try it without scaffold.

on my current house I don't have them. I treat external joinery with a water-based stain, and find decking stain durable, but periodic maintenance is a bit of a drag. I use linseed oil on some weatherboard cladding, smells nice but is even more effort.

On the garden gate I used Cuprinol spirit-based wood preserver with waxy coloured stain, quite expensive, mine is dull dark green but there are other coilours, including brown. I think it's about 3 years old now and lasting well. I don't know the design life. It was fairly expensive.

So I think I've tried just about everything, and not found the perfect solution yet.

The water-based stains you can slosh on over the weathered old coating, it is not a paint and doesn't need sanding down. Your roof bits will not often be inspected for quality of workmanship by passers-by so weather protection is all you need.

 

[kingandy2nd]

Spend the time masking your the edges and protecting the walls/floor.

It will be quicker overall to spend the time doing that, then paint more casually than trying to paint with precision and no protection.

 

[Notch7]

I'm not sure where this post fits best, any advice or bump to the most useful forum would be much appreciated.

A house we bought a few years ago is becursed with perhaps the most annoying thing ever - exposed rafter tails. The timbers are pressure treated but weathered, and I am looking to treat them with something. (A fecking awful and laborious job on a big house).

I tried some Barretine Wood Preserver on a corner to see how it would go:

It looked not too bad, but what a pain in the arse using oil/spirit based, where it is so thin....invariably drips on the masonry paint and becomes indelible.

Is this a good option to use for the wood....will it cause any issues? It's not too sealing to prevent breathability etc? Anyone any other suggestions?

I have also some pine tar/flax oil/gum turpentine that I planned to use....but mixing that with the iron oxide pigment is going to make it all interminably worse of a job.

Any thoughts much appreciated. Ta.

That Barretine product is really for sheds - in fact it's only really good for sawn timber.

I would suggest using Sikkens Cetol HLS+ Ebony.

It's black transclucsent.

Oh and chuffing expensive, but I've seen it used many times by builders for exposed rafter feet

 

[Weegt]

That Barretine product is really for sheds - in fact it's only really good for sawn timber.

I would suggest using Sikkens Cetol HLS+ Ebony.

It's black transclucsent.

Oh and chuffing expensive, but I've seen it used many times by builders for exposed rafter feet

Thanks for the reply. It might be hard to see, but none of the timber is planed....it' all rough as. The test area took the product really well (very much like shed painting) and it was dark enough to even out the variance in the weathered grey. The worst is the big stretches of plywood between the rafter ends...they really suck it up. Just at a loss - I have quite a bit of this Barrettine, but don't know if it will cause any issues.

They do state:

Barrettine Premier Wood Preserver is ideal for most exterior wood care projects, including sheds, fences, exterior windows and frames, doors, carports, shutters, garden gates and more.

Previous to this, I think the owner before us had spray treated with brown cuprinol or somesuch....it just fell off and didn't get much penetration in most places. It all gets quite a bit of roof protection, so anything penetrating should last a bit (at least long enough for me to sell the gaff!).

 

[Weegt]

I had an older house where they were painted in oil based gloss. luckily the roof overhang gives some weather protection.

looking at my neighbour's house, he has decorative barge boards, also painted in gloss. he had it done profesionally and says it is one of the new microporous water paints. Might be Sikkens?

I wouldn't try it without scaffold.

on my current house I don't have them. I treat external joinery with a water-based stain, and find decking stain durable, but periodic maintenance is a bit of a drag. I use linseed oil on some weatherboard cladding, smells nice but is even more effort.

On the garden gate I used Cuprinol spirit-based wood preserver with waxy coloured stain, quite expensive, mine is dull dark green but there are other coilours, including brown. I think it's about 3 years old now and lasting well. I don't know the design life. It was fairly expensive.

So I think I've tried just about everything, and not found the perfect solution yet.

The water-based stains you can slosh on over the weathered old coating, it is not a paint and doesn't need sanding down. Your roof bits will not often be inspected for quality of workmanship by passers-by so weather protection is all you need.

Luckily I have a scaffold tower, else you wouldn't catch me up there!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts....struggling with how to play it.

 

[cdbe]

Have you considered PVC? Fit and forget.

 

[^woody^]

I wood suggest you knot only want a preserver, but a coating to protect from UV too