Painting timber decking

[clarklsparkl]

Hi all. Can someone please tell me what is the best paint for decking, I bought Ronseal decking oil (mahogany) I tried it on a garden table and it looks terible, also I have been told Ronseal peels after 12 months. I power washed the decking and it came up really good but I would like to darken it a tad, any tips please.

[AlBags]

Painting .. Decking? ...

DON'T!

Unless you want to cause yourself regular maintenance.

Use SPIRIT-based stains only.
The little guys at B&Q or Focus may tell you different .. but ignore them.

[AlBags]

Even spirit-based preservative would be better, and may suit what you need. The light finishes are nice .. green and oak.

[clarklsparkl]

Hi Albags,
Do you mean semi transparent wood stain like Sadolin.

[rowanwitch]

Tried a number of the brands on the market all c**p only thing that seems to bring the wood up well then fades away without looking too obvious is old fashioned teak oil. we have a really big deck and it is a huge amount of work to maintain wish we'd invested in a stone terrace instead as it takes two days to clean and refinish it every year plus a couple of half days to treat the algae in the shady bits....Mr Titchmarsh has a lot to answer for

And we get rats underneath which I gather from the pest control bloke is really common

[AlBags]

any spirit-based stain .. so long as it is flat finish. Most Sadolin is satin or glossy.
As above, oil is good too .. Teak Oil, or even better .. Danish Oil. They are non glossy and will not make any more slippery! They also dry out as there are additives to acieve this. Dear tho.

[DEN53]

We spent a fortune on decking oil and it wore off after 3 months. Then last year Mr. Den stained it - it has lasted longer but is flaking a bit now. I don't think there is a hard and fast answer to keeping decking looking good, apart from don't have it.