Now that my blown down fence is nearing a fully repaired state, I was thinking sometime soon to be re-coating it. It did have some gingery coating on years ago, but much of that has gone. I was thinking to pressure wash to remove odd flaky bits of the old covering, the green mould/moss, as well as all the mud that has got onto the panels that blew over. Then leave it all to dry as best it can for a while. Finally I was going to spay with light creosote substitute (crocote, I think is the trade name), using a pump-up sprayer, something like this: However, I suspect these are for water based treatments only and maybe the creocote will cause its body or its seals to disintegrate before I get a chance to finish spraying. Has anyone any suggestions what low cost sprayer could be good to apply the crocote? I'm thinking of using crocote as I expect it to be very effective as wood preservative, I like the natural colour and I also like the smell (in moderation). Many thanks, Steve
Good idea, Steve. Standard fence coatings don't have any actual preservative in them, so only keep most of the rain off. The stuff you propose - creosote substitute - should actually preserve the timber as well as make it look nifty. If the timber is dry, it'll soak in beautifully too. Also, a sprayer makes a lot of sense as it's not only easier, but it gets the stuff into every nook and cranny that a brush simply won't. You just need to take care that you spray in non-existent winds and don;t allow any to go anywhere it's not welcome... As for the sprayer to use, anything like the one you suggest should be fine. You can pick up such basic garden sprayers for £7 upwards so it doesn't really matter if it all melts in a couple of months...
I use the Constru-Plus 7 litre Pro Sprayer. Never use a water based, it just coats the surface. Oil based only. Using a sprayer you will use a lot more, tbh I wouldn't bother with the sprayer for fence panels, they are good for getting into hard to reach nooks and crannies, but you will get better coverage doing it by hand.
Fair enough, Wiggy, but for actual preservative, you cannot beat the way the spray gets behind the joins and trims and overlaps, in a way that a brush simply cannot.
Very true DA, but for a one off I would use a brush, if there is likely to be more at a later date then sure invest in a sprayer. Staining is the pain of my life, every treehouse I build has to have all the underneath stained, I learnt a very costly lesson a few years back using a water based and in the past have tried sprayers, brushes, pads, rags and dipping for smaller components. Sprayers work well for stuff above your head, brushes work well for vertical section and rags or those car wash mits work well on smooth poles and my plasterers trough works well for dipping newel posts and spindles.
Steve, you may well find that applying that stuff with a sprayer might lead to 'runs', and if they still show up when dry, you might be disappointed with the finish. But, I just don't know...
Just to provide some feedback - it been a while but I've been fortunate enough to be very, very busy. I bought some 3 liter sprayers for £8 (IIRC) from eBay. I only needed one of these worked brilliantly spraying creocote. Each 6' to 8 ' panel took about 10 minutes and I could get into the nooks and crannies easily. I did stretch the spring in the pressure relief valve to increase the spray pressure and hence rate of application. I have some more to do after some soft fruit has finished, as I left an area where this was growing. I wan tto do the other side but will wait until all sign of nexsting birds has gone from the adjacent hedging. Thanks fo rthe good advice Steve
I've had lots of good advice from this forum and as I can see no one is getting money from their input. So, to me its the least I can do to say thank you and refer to my experiences that may help others. Steve
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