Decking Treatments - Experiences?

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Last week I was off work and managed to complete a little project I'd been planning for a while - a small deck area outside our patio door, over the existing patio. It's nothing particularly extravagant or fancy, just a simple suspended square deck (3.6 x 3.6m). But it's provided a nice surface, exactly level with the back door to step out onto where we can put a table/chairs out to enjoy a barbecue next year. For the construction I used a simple frame of treated 4x2 timbers overlaid with lengths of Wickes premium deckboards (https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Premium-Deck-Board-28mm-x-140mm-x-3-6m/p/543265). It's all nice and solid (no bouncing or flexing whatsoever), and now I'm left with the decision of how best to treat it.

This seems a bit of a minefield in itself. I wanted to coat it with some anti-slip treatment, as I know decking can get slippery quickly. However, most anti-slip stuff seems to be a stain, rather than an oil, and I'm concerned about longevity and flaking...something most oils don't seem to suffer from. I think I've settled on using Barratine decking oil initially, then using their anti-slip final coat, as it seems to get favourable reviews.

Anyone have experience with this brand, or can suggest other oil combinations? Another product I've seen mentioned is Osmo non-slip decking oil - however, a price of £60 quid a can raised my eyebrows, and then when it turned out that it was just a top coat to be applied to their normal decking oil product (also around £60 a can), I've kind of written that off. I don't mind spending for a good product, but that seems incredibly steep.

Another question - when is best to treat it? I my mind, I thought it would be best to do it ASAP, so had planned to do it this weekend, weather permitting. But it seems most people recommend leaving the decking untreated for several weeks (in some cases, months) before applying any treatment. Is this necessary for softwood (the Wickes boards are pine as far as I know)? I'm a bit wary that I've chosen the worst time of year to do this job, as it's only going to get wetter over the next few months, so I don't know whether it's best to treat it as soon as I can, or wait for it to weather and treat it in the spring. But would spending winter 'untreated' be a problem (aside from the obvious issue of remaining slippery when wet).

Any wisdom, experience or advice appreciated. Apologies if this has been discussed before, a quick search didn't turn up much in the way of recent discussion.

 

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Stripped off the "painted" rubbish that was on mine this summer. Its a few years old (maybe 5?), not sure as it was here when we moved in but had had a couple of coats of decking paint that were flaking off and it looked terrable. Total pain getting the old stuff back to wood, decking stripping barely starts the job so you end up scraping and mucking about for a weekend.

Bottom line is I went with screwfix bog standard cheep and cheerful decking oil. Its by no means perfect because it was so bad before, I was close to replacing the whole thing tbh.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-timber-decking-oil-oak-5ltr/53805

It looks a little darker than I thought it would but more than happy with the results. Just been out there on a cold damp morning and taken a picture. Not slippery 4 months on and looks pretty ok to me. I don't think it will get slippery until its quite dirty and a light clean off should sort it out. Short of putting a grit coating I don't think any deck can be truly "anti" slip.

Decking,Flickr

That looks good. I don't mind if the colour darkens a little - the decking is right next to a fence which is coated in 'medium oak' (which basically looks like a dull orange), so it would help the lessen the contrast a little. I'd forgotten about the Screwfix stuff to be honest - I'd seen they do staining products (including anti slip), but as seems to be general wisdom, I want to stick with oil to save having to strip it in a few years if it goes bad.

As for anti-slip compounds, most of them have just that - from what I understand, they contain microbeads, so when you apply them, you get lift with a kind of gritty texture.

I've just re-read the product details for the decking boards I bought, and it suggests that they should be treated "immediately & prior to installation with a deck seal or other similar product". Whoops. Should have done it before putting them down, really. I'd better get hold of some this week and then pray for a dry 24hr period - not easy at this time of year.

Thanks guys.

 

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I've decided to go with the Liberon stuff - primarily because they do a 'medium oak' colour, and looking at some photos in the reviews section, this looks like it will match the fence pretty nicely. Plus, 5 litres for just under £30 on Amazon, enough for 2 coats.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Liberon-DOMO5L-5L-Decking-Oil/dp/B0068Z9WPK

I think what I'll do is get hold of that, give the deck a good coating as soon as I can, and then see how it fares over winter. If it becomes too slippery then maybe I'll add an anti-slip oil on top, but I'm hoping that keeping it clean and free of algae should be enough. It's just that we will be walking on it often, as the patio door is the only way in and out of the garden, so I don't want to go arse over tit one morning

 

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when I last did mine with Liberon, I bought a 'Harris decking brush' from B&M for a few quid (just googled it, and its £3 at the moment), it was just like a cheep long handled broom with plastic bristles, but really saved my back when applying it.

I put half the tin in a large bowel, then just applied using the brush.

Ive done it before on hands and knees with a 4 inch brush and its a pita.

Decking brush is a must. I've used Ronseal Ultimate from WFD last time, I'm quite happy with the result:
https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/product/ronseal-ultimate-protection-decking-oil

Good tip - I suffer from lower back pain a fair bit as it is, I'll get hold of a proper brush too. Cheers!

 

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You shouldn't treat the decking straight away and definitely not this time of year. It needs time to dry out properly else you'll just lock the moisture in and accelerate the rotting of the wood.

As it's already pressure treated it'll be fine over winter, then treat it in late spring when there has been a long stint of dry weather (at least a week) and little to no condensation in the morning.

In terms of non-slip. A well maintained decking isn't slippery and doesn't need a non slip coating. I used to have decking directly outside the back door (grooves down, smooth finish) and never had a problem. Just keep it clean, make sure there's no algae build up and it'll be fine.

Finally I'd recommend against any stains / paints / surface treatments. It will peel and will look crap. Just regularly treat it with oil. I use the Screwfix non-nonsense stain and use a Wagner sprayer to apply it, takes no more than an hour to do 4.2m x 8m.

Totally agree. when I bought my deck I was told not to treat for around 6 months, the wood will still have a lot of moisture in it, and needs to dry out so the oil can replace that water. I did mine after about 4 months, the wood was clearly much drier and it absolutely drunk the oil. It still surprises me how much it will drink per year.

And the slipping thing I find absolutely no difference between my deck and my slabs, possibly the slabs are slightly worse, but the area I think of in particular is slightly more shaded so it does suffer more than the rest.

We moved to the screwfix one as well, its hard to say for sure but I think it absorbs far better than the others we tried, and after treatment its like water beading on a well waxed car. Personally I think it lasts about 6 months before its losing its real protection. I would do it in the autumn if treating annually rather than spring/ high summer

Whoops. First time back to this thread so I missed these posts - unfortunately I've already treated it with the Liberon oil. The advice on the wood to treat it prior to installation had me worried I should get it down asap. Nevermind :/

However, it seems to have taken two coats quite well, and water beads up on it now. The deck is suspended fairly high, about a foot, and has good airflow underneath, so hopefully it will still be able to dry eventually. I'm pretty chuffed and think it looks good...I will just have to see how it goes for longevity.

As for anti slip, yes, at the moment, it feels fine. Even when wet, theres plenty if grip, so I'll just keep it clean.