Creo”cote” or….?

Time to paint the fence panels, and with creosote banned I keep reading the lower VOC Creocote replacement is a bit crap.

So, with the expense in mind is there something better or do I commit to the cheaper Creocote every couple of years?

Creosote was made from coal tar and contained loads of environmental nasties and carcinogens.

Creocote will need reapplying every few years but an oil base product will be best.

Used motor oil is the choice product if you are an environmental vandal and long for the good old days where you got cancer and didn’t know where it came from.

This begs the question, NEW motor oil does not contain carcinogens (from the by products of combustion)- could NEW motor oil be a wonder fence treatment?

I creocote the shed ever 18-24 months…I’m lazy and use a spray machine, but I can do the whole thing in just over 1 hour and it seems to do the job…I suspect if it was painted on with a brush it might need redone ever 24-30 months, but I’m lazy, hate painting and it isn’t my shed…so spray the stuff on and it is done.

Leaves a very similar smell to creosote and you really smell it when it is a hot day and the shed has warmed up inside!

Is the fence new and unpainted?

There are various garden colour ranges based on wax, e.g. Cuprinol Ducksback, but they don’t penetrate in the same way and rely on the wood surface

Adding old engine oil to creocote is supposed to bring it back to it’s original wood preservation properties.
Takes days to dry mind , so will transfer to your clothing.
Add in potential carcinogens so gloves and cheap disposable brushes ftw

Creosote isn’t ‘banned’ as such, it’s just restricted to ‘professional use’, though I’m not entirely sure how that is defined. Maybe get your OH to pay you a tenner for fence maintenance and voila, you’re a ‘professional’!

This site for example sells genuine coal tar creosote for professional use, but I have it on very good authority that they don’t check any credentials when purchasing.  It is unpleasant stuff, but IMO as long as you are using it outdoors, are wearing PPE and clean up responsibly it is fine.  Don’t breathe it in without a mask, don’t get it on your skin, don’t chuck it down the drain.

That creocote stuff is as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike IME.

Creocote and engine oil mixed is better than Creocote but it’s not as good as Creosote used to be.
My fence needs recoating this year and it has been up for five years, coated in a Creocote and used engine oil mix.

When I asked about Creosote and professional use I said what’s to stop me saying I’m a professional, apparently they have to log every time they sell some and they get checked to make sure they are complying . That was Mole Valley Farmers , all the fence treatment you buy now is just coloured water for all the good it does ?

Every summer (mid 80’s) I used to get the job of painting my gran/grandad’s fence and sheds with creosote, it started off neat n’ tidy but by day 3 I was covered in the stuff and by day 7 i was indistinguishable from the bucket I used, add in the fact I trained as a mechanic and had my hands and arms covered in used engine oil day in/day out means I should be not allowed anywhere near an open flame.

I love the smell of creosote in the morning………

they have to log every time they sell some and they get checked to make sure they are complying .

Well, then I’m on a list somewhere, I have bought it from the link I posted above. I won’t lose much sleep over it.  We live on a smallholding with a row of old wooden outbuildings that need a lot of maintaining.  My next door neighbour farmer can buy it no problem, apparently being a farmer counts as professional – you don’t have to be a full time fence painter. I tried creocote but it’s just not up to the job. I’m certainly not a professional farmer but, we produce a lot of our own food so I’d try some weasley words around that as justification if challenged. #blokeinthepokey

I used Creocote on some old (proper) sleepers that form a retaining wall in the back garden. I put 3 coats on and it lasted about a year. I’ve still got some left over but I don’t think I’ll bother again.

I used some Cuprinol Ducksback on the fences at my old house and they still looked good 5 years on.

I’ve just done the side gates and a small section of fence in Ducksback so I reckon the rest of the fence and probably the sleepers will get the same.

It’s good stuff. The water beads and runs off like a waxed car. Doesn’t drink and washes out of the brushes nice easily. Pretty sure it’s water based.

The first cost goes on quite slowly on rough sawn timber but the second cost is whole lot quicker.

I bought a 5l tub from the Dulux Decorator centre for £9 when it was on offer and I’m kicking myself for not getting more now. 

I used ducksback on my shed and it’s pretty much good as new 3 years on, the wood sucked up loads of it as I applied it which is probably a good sign (I mostly used a sprayer but did use brushes and rollers as seemed appropriate). Like bens mentions water runs off it like, ur, a duck’s back. It’s coloured but has some pretty neutral “just looks like wood” options, I chose one that looks like baby vomit because I am an idiot. One downside is it’s not really removable, I think you can paint over it but it’s soaked in too much for anything other than heavy sanding to remove the dyed wood would do. Or go over it with a darker ducksback of course.

It’s definitely outperformed both oil and creocote that I’ve used before but I can’t rule out that I might have got a bad product or applied it wrong, or even that the wood’s better on this shed, who knows. But I’d use it again.

Barretine ‘Creosolve’ is a good drop. Bit stinky but 2 coats will give a wet look and rain will bead on it for a year or so. It’s relatively inexpensive as well.

It should be noted on the carcinogens front that many things are in the Group 1 carcinogen list. These include red meat, bbq’d meat, hot dogs, full fat soft drinks etc and also alcohol.

Its more than likely that while it is a carcinogen, exposure thats going to do damage and lead to issues is going to come about from years of daily exposure, and not repainting your fence once every couple years.

So what do you do more of,  drink alcohol, eat meats inc processed, or repaint your fence ?

Creosote does the job, so go buy a tin and get painting.

The Ducksback on my fence is outperforming the osmo on my shed.

I built the shed in 21 it needs redoing.

I built the fence in 2016 and could do with redoing it now…..

I bought a drum of creocote 2 years ago and I’ve only just made a bit of progress last month painting one side of the garden fence. It’s a ballache but realised that rollers are by far the quickest means of application – spraying excluded as I don’t want a 1 meter deadzone either side.

I had found a  gallon container beside the expansion tank in my loft when I moved  in 35 years ago. Assumed it was central heating rust inhibitor.

Clearing the loft out this year I found it was old style creosote.  Used on fences.

Aside from that I use  oil based Cuprinol  Shed and Fence Protector.

If you’re going to be applying creosote, or creocote + engine oil, then get some Tyvek ‘bunny suits’ that paint sprayers wear in body shops, and forensics bods wear at crime scenes. You can get them off the internet for less than a tenner, totally waterproof, handy things to keep in the boot of the car for emergencies, especially if you might have to get down on your hands and knees to change a tyre, or check under the car.