Penetrating finish for deck

[aeroden]

G'day,

Apologies if I'm posting into a wrong forum - I'm new here.

I'm looking for an advise on what to use for penetrating finish for my deck. The has is built from hardwood (spotgum if I have to guess). I covered so doesn't get my rain & some except for the edges.

I notice Aquadeck / Cabbots water based finishes are quite popular (and expensive) but after using them for a couple of years at my previous place I'm very dissatisfied - they just create a film that gets soaked easily under rain and simply starts to peel off after a year. Doesn't seem to protect the wood much. At my previous place (rental) after 8 years the deck boards were all cracking and rotting despite being "oiled" (there is no water in this thing) yearly.

My friend overseas in similar climate applied two coats of BLO (the chemical one) to his Brasilian hardwood deck boards before bolting them on; and did nothing more to it since, for 8 years. The wood still looks very very good.

Anyhow, I'm looking for some kind of penetrating finish that I can keep applying on top (as a maintenance). I'm not a fan of chemically altered BLO, so I'm very close to buying regular linseed oil and boiling it myself for an hour, then mixing 1:1 with turps for penetration and mb adding a bit of wax to seal. Not sure how long it will wear but it a low-traffic deck. Just did a sample "brew" - works really great for carved figures and cut boards (used food grade oil and pure gum, not petrol, turps) though can't judge about longevity yet.

Before I go into that adventure I'll appreciate your wisdom on off-the-shelf products that penetrate the wood rather than create a film.

Thanks in advance.

[aeroden]

Probably should've posted in renovation...

[Mountain Ash]

Hi AD. It's a shame you have had bad experiences with Aquadeck, I know plenty of clients who are happy with it. I would suggest that the peeling off was due to surface contamination that stopped the finish adhering. There are plenty of oil based finishes on the market but some woods can be tough for finshes to penetrate. Australia tends to have very high UV radiation and this makes life even tougher for clear/stained finishes on timber. Overseas conditions are very different and may not be a useful comparison. Linseed oil is not a very durable finish for furniture so I would think that foot traffic, scraping chairs and the like would require regular re application. BLO has driers in it to speed up drying and all manufactured finishes will have some "chemicals" in their ingredient list. I would be interested in what you find to work.

[verawood]

Welcome to the forum.

[Beardy]

Have a look at Cutek decking finish

[aeroden]

Have a look at Cutek decking finish

Commercials look promising. Can anyone share their experiences with it?

[LanceC]

Commercials look promising. Can anyone share their experiences with it?

I used to use it, but boy is it expensive. I was needing to re-apply annually and it was just too expensive. I switched to AquaDeck several years ago and am see no difference.

[aeroden]

Price wise it's $200 vs $350 for 10L drum.