Exterior Wood Oils & Stains

What exterior wood oil does

Exterior wood oil soaks into the timber and protects it from within, instead of sitting on the surface as a film. That is why the oils on this page do not crack, peel or flake, and why topping them up never means sanding back to bare wood: you clean the surface, let it dry and apply a fresh coat where it is needed. Most carry UV protection, which slows the greying of decks, cladding, fences and garden furniture.

An oil is the wrong choice over an existing varnish, paint or solid stain, because it cannot soak through a film. Strip that first, with the stripper described further down.

Types of exterior wood oils and stains

The range covers five jobs, and the right product depends on the timber and its age more than on the look you want. New softwood, new hardwood and weathered wood each need something different.

Penetrating oil for weathered wood: Owatrol Textrol

Owatrol Textrol is a penetrating oil with UV protection, developed for weathered softwood and hardwood on decks, fences, gates and cladding. It is applied wet on wet until the wood will take no more, which saves waiting between coats. It goes on rich and matt and lightens over time to its finished look. Every shade comes in 2.5 L and 5 L tins: Clear keeps the natural colour of the wood, Golden Oak and Rustic Oak are warm oak tones that add colour as they protect, and Weathered Grey gives a silver grey, weathered look that is still protected.

Pigmented water based oil: WOCA Exterior Wood Oil

WOCA Exterior Wood Oil is a water based oil with a matt finish, quick drying and low odour. Its pigments carry the UV protection, so a coloured WOCA finish holds up outdoors better than a clear one. One litre covers roughly 12 to 15 m², and we stock it in 2.5 L tins in five colours: Teak, Hazelnut, Thunder Grey, Anthracite and Black.

Clear UV oil: Osmo UV Protection Oil

Osmo UV Protection Oil is a clear, microporous finish that delays greying while letting the wood breathe, made for vertical surfaces such as cladding, fences and gates. It covers about 18 m² per litre per coat, with two coats recommended, applied between 10 and 35 °C, and it dries in about 12 hours. A tinted Light Cedar version is also stocked, both in 2.5 L.

Saturating oil for dense hardwoods: Owatrol Deks Olje D1

Deks Olje D1 is a very thin, clear matt oil that fills the pores of dense, oily timber that other oils cannot get into, such as new oak and tropical hardwoods. It suits decking, garden furniture and door and window frames, inside or out, in 1 L and 2.5 L.

New wood protector: Owatrol Seasonite

Owatrol Seasonite protects new, unfinished wood through its first year, when it is most likely to split, warp and cup. It is made for pressure treated softwoods and for hardwoods other than oak, and it needs one generous coat. After 6 to 12 months of weathering the wood is ready for its long term oil or stain.

Cleaning and preparing wood before oiling

An oil only soaks in if the surface is clean, dry and free of old finishes. Two Owatrol products do the preparation, and they are often used together. Owatrol Net-Trol, in 2.5 L and 15 L, restores grey, weathered wood to its natural colour in about 15 minutes without bleaching or sanding. Prepdeck stripper and cleaner, in 1 L, 2.5 L and 10 L, removes old stains and finishes, grade stamps and the mill glaze on new boards, and diluted it works as a heavy duty cleaner. After Prepdeck, neutralise the surface straight away with Net-Trol, so the stripper does not react with the new finish.

Choosing the right oil for your timber

Start with the state of the wood, then pick the look. This is the order most jobs follow:

• New softwood and treated timber: one coat of Seasonite, then Textrol, WOCA or Osmo after 6 to 12 months
• New oak and tropical hardwood: Deks Olje D1, after a clean with Net-Trol to degrease the surface
• Grey, weathered wood: Net-Trol to bring the colour back, then Textrol to feed it
• Old stain or varnish: Prepdeck to strip it, Net-Trol to neutralise, then your chosen oil
• Colour with the least upkeep: WOCA in a pigmented shade, cleaned and re-oiled when it fades

Apply on a dry, mild day out of direct sun, in thin even coats along the grain, so the oil soaks in rather than drying on the surface. New C24 treated timber should be left to dry out after treatment before anything goes on it.

Oils for decking and cladding

The same finishes serve every outdoor timber, so this one range covers them all. On timber decking, the horizontal boards take the most weather, so check them first when you top up, and clean before you re-oil. On timber cladding, decide early whether to hold the colour with oil or let the boards weather to silver, because restoring grey cladding later means a Net-Trol clean first.

Exterior wood oils in Dublin and across Ireland

Every oil, cleaner and stripper on this page is held in our North Dublin warehouse, ready for collection or delivery across Ireland. Work out your area in square metres, check the coverage on the product page and add the tins to your cart, keeping a little spare for the first top up.