What are your recommendations on good wood protection?

We need to treat a log cabin currently in construction. The logs are untreated and we're told many times the importance of a GOOD treatment, applied PROPERLY to get specific levels of penetration and water-proofing. Both to prevent rot and to minimise the amount the logs swell and shrink seasonally due to water levels.

We will either be leaving them the natural colour or applying a light stain so we need something that penetrates rather than a paint or varnish.

We've been recommended http://carefreeprotect.com/en/ but it is an absolute bomb. Alternatively the manufacturer recommends Sadolins,Sikkens and Kingfisher brands but they make so many products I'm struggling to tell which are the right ones. They specifically warn against cheap garden-grade stuff, in their tests the good stuff really is a lot better.

Anyone got particular recommendations on stuff they've used and has proved itself, or that they know pros recommend?

Can I check, if we get a clear product should we be able to stain the wood first or can stain block the treatment? I think of stain as basically just dying the wood without affecting it but is that true?

I had ideally hoped to use a spray product as 3-4 coats on 11x7x2.4m is a lot of painting, but this seems uncommon in such products?

 

Ask the manufacturer surely?

 

My vote goes to Sadolin

The exposed timbers of the house we built in 1980 were treated with Sadolin Classic Dark Palisander, some of the them have not been re-coated since and these are still in good condition.

Spraying wood treatments means that some of the necessary solvents may evaporate before reaching the timber

 

Not had much luck with that. I either get no reply or some pro forma. They're interested in selling to trade not a couple of gallons to some guy with a shed.

 

Good advice from Sadolin can be read HERE

and a page of useful links HERE

 

I think only the first one I listed allows

I get an error on the 2nd one.

I get lost when I look at their product page: https://www.sadolin.co.uk/products/ so many! I THINK I want a penetrating water prevention product but when I look on their garden furniture section they only seem to have woodstain products.
Maybe I'll try them on the phone again.

I'm assuming it's going to cost a fortune for the good stuff, and steeling myself not to chicken out and buy cheaper alternatives.

 

You should get the 404 at the top of a page of links. The links still work, click on them

 

Got through to a lady at Sadolin who says we should simply use their Classic All Purpose Woodstain. Sadly it doesn't come in clear though.
They have a few other options: https://www.sadolin.co.uk/product-category/professionals/translucent-timber-protection/

So when would I use the extra durable or clear-coat ones if their own rep says the classic is all I need?

 

This is precisely the problem... a page of links longer than my arm is information overload. I want the manufacturer (or a professional) to tell me the right product for my project. I looked at a couple of their case studies on timber cabin type buildings and they didn't use the same products despite seeming very similar!

This is what my cabin company says: https://www.tuin.co.uk/blog/log-cab...ber_treatment_should_we_use_for_our_Log_Cabin

 

Maybe speak to barrettine -their products can be sprayed.

https://www.barrettinepro.co.uk/25/274/barrettine-wood-preservative

https://www.wood-finishes-direct.co...4fXZyZFGVzUIusIrJNE8VYjVnxe1yFMhoCZNcQAvD_BwE

I think there are reviews on amazon.
Toolstation sells their product although only the wood protector.

Ive found their stuff is great on sawn timber, but it tends to run off planed timber.

 

At least Sadolin have people... this is the Sikkens website:


Their only phone number is seemingly in Germany for technical questions, I have found a local dealer so we'll see if they can advise. Unless anyone here knows what type of product is suitable for smooth planed exterior spruce and can advise?

 

An update and to eat my words slightly, the person on the Sadolin helpline wasn't that helpful but I dropped a query by email and a very helpful guy called back shortly afterwards and went through everything at length - offered to send me some samples, etc.

Seems a good product. Far, far cheaper than specialist stuff. Like 1/4 the price of CareFree.

 

I've used tons of this for many years and can't complain:

https://www.everbuild.co.uk/product/sikagard-wood-preserver/

Also sprayed in with a garden sprayer; works wonders.

 

I have only built two "off the shelf" log cabins for customers. I would not be in a rush to recommend Tuin.

Oh, and their guttering is the worst I have ever encountered. None of the joins have gaskets and the diameter of the down pipes is not UK standard.

Some of the 5m sections of tongue and groove timber were so warped that I had to screw through the top of them into the sections below.

From memory, the other log cabin was made/sold by Tiger.

Unlike Tuin they sell the cabins with floors.

I would be happy to recommend Tiger and their customer services. Tuin- nah, and nah.

 

Ours is now built and without any real issues, thankfully - the roof boards went on today. They guys building it were pretty impressed; we know one other person who has a much smaller one and he was pleased - but our sample of 2 each is not that informative.

Ours didn't come with guttering though, so no comments there. It didn't come with a floor but Tuin will happily sell you one. I think we preferred the freedom to choose what we wanted. Tuin is definitely at the more no-frills end of the spectrum, you are paying less to get 4 walls and a roof.

Our case was 11x7m 70mm logs so probably very different from most of their customers (and Tiger's) - ours really could be a house.
Not that we didn't have exasperations, mainly over their inability to provide any kind of engineering or fire information.