Decking treatment questions

[terryhawkins]

I have just finished building a deck in my garden, I have a couple of questions regarding treatment.

After reading advice on this forum, I am going to oil the deck.

However, because there's a lot of pollen and blossom blowing around at the moment, as soon as I start oiling the deck it is going to have bits stuck on it, so...

Am I OK to leave the deck a month or two before oiling it?

Also, is tinted decking oil OK to use? Or does it start to look bad after a while?

Many thanks

 

[^woody^]

It will depend on what oil you use, but it is generally not like varnish and you should not get stuff "stuck" onto the surface.

You should be able to brush off whatever blows onto it

I used green tanalised boards and then used a clear oil, but it still turned them a pleasing shade of brown

 

[terryhawkins]

Thanks for the response.

I have just been looking around the internet, and some people suggest that the decking should weather for a while first before oiling.

Would anyone here advise that? Or is it best to oil asap?

 

[^woody^]

I can't see an valid reason for waiting for it to weather.

One thing with coating any external timber is that its best to do it when the timber is dry but has not been so dry, and to be so contracted that the coating later splits and pores open when it later swells

The best time of year is therefore late summer/early Autumn, but this may not always be practical, and it is not essential to wait until then