Best exterior wood

[stuarta]

I've got an old flower bed (1.6m x 0.43m) which we had laid a piece of OSB board on and painted with fence paint.

It's started to warp and peel and just wondering if there should be something better we should use to replace it with?

Many thanks

 

[Burnerman]

Tri wall plastic sheeting - could this be an option?
Any man made board is going to suffer after a while.
John

 

[scbk]

Give us a clue, what are you making?


Something plastic or metal will last a long time

 

[stuarta]

Sorry missed the vital bit, it's just for laying across the gap to use as a bench

 

[Burnerman]

Lengths of timber or composite decking?
John

 

[stuarta]

Yeah that's what I'm leaning towards. Wasn't sure if replace osb worth it or marine ply, reading that both should work. We put a cushion on it to sit, but the wood needs to stay out all weathers

 

[Burnerman]

Both materials will work, but their longevity will rely on regular painting to keep the water out.
Marine ply is good stuff (at a price), external ply isn't what you'd imagine it to be and OSB is full of resins to keep it stable.
With either product, don't let water lie on it!
John

 

[stuarta]

Yep I reckon that's what killed our osb. Although painted with fence paint so assumed it would be ok and I see they say seal the edges but I'm not sure what with. So not much difference then between marine and osb

 

[johnny2007]

If price is not a problem, go for marine ply and yacht varnish.
Otherwise, decking boards, stain and yacht varnish.
Yacht varnish lasts a long time.

 

[Nige F]

Lengths of timber or composite decking?
John

That's what I'd go with

 

[stuarta]

Ok thanks I'll take a look. Alternatively I was just thinking I could use the osb sheet that's there as a flat base, removing the peeling bits best I can, and then screw composite decking on top

 

[stuarta]

That's what I'd go with

If I went with lengths of timber, what timber would I be looking at and would it still need regularly treating?

 

[Mike13]

I bought a couple of lengths of Purple Jarrah to make an embedded footpath in a soggy part of the garden from a reclaimed timber place, over 20 years later they are still ok. The greenheart lengths I bought at the same time did not fare so well, most have gone soft. It did need a carbide jigsaw blade to cut, nothing else would last enough to even do a single cut.