Landscaping and Gardening Info

Unless the garden shed you purchase has been made from pressure treated or cedar wood then in order for it to last you will need to regularly maintain it. In the majority of cases wooden buildings for the garden tend to come only with a water based primer to act as protection for it. In this article we look at the kinds of garden shed treatments available and why needed.

So what reason is there for you regularly treating a garden shed after it has been built? The main reason to treat a garden shed using treatments such as those we mention below is to length the life span of it. The problem with the wood used in most garden sheds today unless it is cedar or pressure treated is it is not very resilient and changes in the climate causing it to deteriorate very quickly. But applying the right sorts of garden shed treatments provides protection from the elements and prevents them from getting into the wood and causing it to become damaged.

Above we have explained the importance of treating garden sheds, now let us look at some of the types of treatments that one should consider using for protecting yours.

Treatment 1 ” Creosote Substitute

This type of treatment comes under a number of different names such as Creotech or Creotreat and both of which will offer ample protection to your garden shed. The best way of ensuring that this type of treatment provides plenty of protection is to mix five parts of the creosote substitute to one part clean engine oil. Although the creosote substitute is fine on its own the engine oil helps to stop the wood becoming brittle or cracking and provides further protection from water.

This is a treatment which is very easy to apply and can be done using a sprayer. This is also the cheapest of all the ways of treating a garden shed to increase the length of time it lasts once constructed. The only real down side to using this particular type of garden shed treatment is that it only comes in one colour and that is brown.

Treatment 2 ” Wood Preservative

This particular treatment can either be used as the main treatment or to act as a base coat prior to the garden shed being painted. If you are going to use this as the base coat before painting make sure that it is one over which paint can be applied because if you don’t then when you do paint the shed it will just slide off the woods surface. Also you should use a spirit rather than a wood based preservative as this will help to ensure more of it is soaked into the wood providing high levels of protection for the shed from the elements.

Treatment 3 ” Combined Preservative, Colour and Waterproof Agent

Of all the garden shed treatments available today these ones are proving the most popular and again as with treatment 2 above you should go for a spirit rather than water based one. Also if the wood of your shed has been planed then make sure that the product you are using is suitable for use on such ones. If you dont then as time passes you will discover that the protective coating you have applied will begin to peel and leave the underlying wood exposed to the elements. The great advantage to be had from using this treatment is that you have a wide range of colours to select from and is very quick and simple to apply.

Tags: landscaping, gardening