Garden Corner Log Cabin advice

[ik9000]

What I am struggling to get my head around is what paint and or preservatives for the wood I will need. The cabin is not treated. I will need to do this myself. The final colour (that we want) is dark grey on the exterior walls and gloss white on the exterior window and door frames. Inside, a natural kind of clear colour.

How will I go about doing this? Do I need something to put on the wood before I then put a colour on it? I want to give the wood the best treatment possible and a finish that will last and really protect it. So really keen to hear advice and recommendations on this.

Thank you.

YES. In short preservatives then primer then paint, with drying time in between each. Inside you might want preservative (optional) then oil or varnish. Oil will probably give the natural look and texture that you're after. You also have the option externally of going preservative (optional), exterior yacht varnish, then paint to the colour you want, though you may still need to sand the varnish surface and use a heavy-duty primer to get a decent finish on a paint coat at which point why bother with the varnish?

We got our shed pre-pressure treated and then coated it ourselves in a heavy duty preservative that incorporates a stain. It shows off the wood, adds a slight stain (you can get different colours depending on the shade you want) and two coats of that is all it needed after some initial ensele treatment to any cut ends.

Oh and a warning on the oils like danish oil, teak oil etc. They're great but they don't half honk for a few weeks when first applied. The smell will fade with time but that first few months - wooh.

[neonplanet40]

Thanks for the reply! Very helpful. Can you recommend any types/brands to use for the preserver and the paint? I don't want to use something cheap that won't last, but ideally, I don't want to pay more if the extra money offers no real benefit.

Do I need to use ensele on the ends of ours if I am applying a preserver? I.e. is ensele needed as well as preserver and then paint is going down that route? Or does ensele do the same as a preserver?

Thank you.

[ik9000]

yes, ensele end grain is like a very fluid preservative especially designed to be sucked up the grain from the cut end by capillary action. Most rot attack starts on the cut ends so two or three good applications of ensele is recommended. Then coat everything with the main preservative. Don't do it the other way around or the capillary action won't take place.

(you don't coat the whole plank with ensele, just the cut ends)

I will fish out some products we have used and been impressed by later

for now if you want a bit of info this may help: https://www.lonzawoodprotection.com/...ve-protection/

i think there are various suppliers of ensele - this is SFAIK the source company (they don't sell products themselves)

[neonplanet40]

So, I ordered:

Rustins end grain preserver
Barrettine Premier universal preserver - Clear
Sadolin Superdec Satin Opaque Wood Protection - Slate Grey
Sadolin Superdec Satin Opaque Wood Protection - Gloss white - for windows and door frames

Hopefully these will be sufficient.... they were expensive enough!

[ik9000]

sadolin has a reasonable reputation, I think we've used that in the past.

[neonplanet40]

I still haven't been able to do this yet. Its rained the past two weekends none stop

Only the timber stilt base is down (the cabin is, like everything else, delayed!). The base wood is pressure treated but obviously the cut ends need redone. I imagine a few weeks won't do any harm....


I am thinking (when it dries up!) that I will use the end grain preserver for the cut ends. But I was going to put the barrettine preserver on it as well and then paint over it using the sadoline. Is it okay to do this over the wood even if its pressure treated?

My reasoning is, that once the cabin goes on, I'm never going to be able to get near the base again. Is this a good plan, or waste?

Also, another question ( I tend to have loads ), under the stilt base is just my grass. The base is raised slightly to make it level (although one side is quite close to the ground as it wasn't level). Should I do anything with this grass area, or is building over it (the grass will die without light i'd guess) be okay?

Thanks! I can't think of anything else at the moment.....