Wickes clear wood preservative - should I stain as well?

[brokenbetty]

We are building a small kit log cabin in our garden to use as a workshop. We are treating it with Wickes clear wood preserver then a Cuprinol Garden Shades stain.

We won't be able to paint the back and one side once the cabin is up so any treatments have to be done before or during construction. For areas that can't be seen (back and one side), is there any advantage to using the stain or will just the clear preserver be enough?

Thank you

 

[JohnD]

Wickes Clear Wood Preserver has the same ingredients list and instructions as Cuprinol Clear Wood Preserver, so perhaps it is the same. it is an anti-fungus and anti-insect treatment which is spriit based. For end grain or timbers in contact with the ground, or in wet areas, dip the timber or apply many flowing coats wet on wet. This also applies to timbers near the ground which will get splashed with rain.

The woodstain stuff is a coloured water-repellent which contains no preservatives. So I agree you should treat all the timber before assembly with the preserver. You will have to let it dry for several days, preferably in the sun, before you can apply the water-based stain, or it may not adhere. I prefer to use both.

Note that most of the stains do not stick well to smooth planed timber, and may flake or peel. They adhere best to a rough sawn, or a weathered, surface.

Surfaces that you won't be able to get at after build, I would apply several coats to.

As the stain leaves a waxy, water-repellent film on the timber, it will help stop it getting damp, so it will help even though you won't see the decorative coloured finish.

 

[ellal]

If you won't be able to paint the back and side, does that mean you are putting it up less than a metre away from a boundary? If so, check that you don't fall foul of planning in your area...

Garden shades is more of a paint than a stain. As such be careful that the wickes preserver doesn't contain any wax in it. We did a playhouse, and used barratine preservative (as recommended at the time), but the garden shades didn't cover properly - kind of like painting over a silicone sealant. Luckily the shop stumped up for replacement coatings, and for time taken to sand it all down, but worth making sure.

 

[brokenbetty]

Hi JohnD
thank you for your advice. Sounds like I need to plan somewhere to store the wood while it dries so I can stain it before it goes up

Hi ellal
thanks for the warnings. I've checked plannings regs so thats ok. The wickes preserver says it can be painted or stained, and the Cuprinol product that JohnD suggested was very similar is what Cuprinol recommend to use with Garden Shades so fingers crossed. I've done thr base with preservative already so I'll try a test patch with shades now before I use preservative anywhere else.

 

[masona]

Hi ellal
thanks for the warnings. I've checked plannings regs so thats ok.

If it's less than 1m to the boundary, should be non-combustable materials but I don't know your layout

 

[JohnD]

OOI, is that right? The gardens of England are crammed with sheds which are next to fences.

 

[ellal]

If you want to put up small detached buildings such as a garden shed or summerhouse in your garden, building regulations will not normally apply if the floor area of the building is less than 15 square metres and contains NO sleeping accommodation.

If the floor area of the building is between 15 square metres and 30 square metres, you will not normally be required to apply for building regulations approval providing that the building contains NO sleeping accommodation and is either at least one metre from any boundary or it is constructed of substantially non-combustible materials.

 

[brokenbetty]

It's less than 15 square metres

If I had that much space I would have left enough space to get round the back

 

[masona]

OOI, is that right? The gardens of England are crammed with sheds which are next to fences.

Yes providing it's less than 15m2 floor area then it's okay, as mentioned I didn't have the log cabin layout sizes details.

Stupid regs, can't see why the difference if it's 15m2 or 30m2, fire start from anywhere!