Fencing…. treated softwood or Oak?

I’m putting about 40m of post and rail fencing up. I was going with standard treated softwood but I’ve come across a company selling newly cut oak fencing which is working out at pretty much the same price but may look nicer.
Any ideas how oak stands in terms of longevity compared to treated softwood?

Oak is far superior to crapy treated softwood. go for the oak if its the same price as the softwood then bonus.

oak. no competition

Any ideas how oak stands in terms of longevity compared to treated softwood?

Can you imagine what would have been left of the Mary Rose if they had made that out of softwood 😉

Sound like a bargain if you can get oak posts for the price of treated softwood.

Can you imagine what would have been left of the Mary Rose if they had made that out of softwood

Why didn’t I think of that? 😳

it’s actually a bit more expensive but seeing as it’s going up the drive and is in full view of the house I think the extra is worth it.
Cheers guys.

Oak twists & splits with age. I know it’s incredibly strong and long-lived in the correct application…dunno if fencing is one of them though. just a thought.

My experience of softwood fencing is that it’ll go rotten after a few years, even if you’re careful about re-painting it. Having to get the remains of a snapped, rotten post out of the attached panels and a metpost bracket is a serious PITA. If you can get oak for a similar price or not much more, do that.

another one for “if you can get oak for cheap, go for oak”

My dad has some salvaged posts and rails that must be over 80 years old, he’s reused them and they look great. still straight and true.

Green oak (i.e. freshly felled <6months) is not particularly stable. It will move and shakes (splits) will form. It is however strong and longlasting.

It will outlast pressure treated softwood (usually spruce in fencing) and, as long as you are happy with a bit of ‘character’ as it greys, then the oak will be superior. Usually costs 2 – 3 times more than treated softwood so sounds like a no-brainer if you can get it for similar price!