The wood deck on my heavy duty 5th wheel trailer hasn't had anything done to it.
"The Kid" tells me to put a good heavy coat of used motor oil on the two inch planks and let it weather. Good idea? better suggestions? The trailer cost $7K and I'd like the deck to last.
Karl
For a nicer application, you can buy a pail of mistinted deck oil from Home Depot. Redo it every 2 years.
i
Is it PT wood? Deck preservatives would likely be better than making an oily mess. Recall creosoted wood factory floors / tinderboxes?
Ferget that! You'll have a slippery mess forever, lubricating oils never dry. Scrape it down, use some deck oil on it. Hit both sides, road spray is worse than rain. Visit HD, Lowe's, wally world, whatever you have. Can be had in 5 gallon buckets for really big jobs, the tinted stuff will last longer under the sun. Unfinished wood really soaks it up, plan on a couple of coats at least. Reminds me to redo mine before the snow flies, needs to be redone every few years. Nothing is forever if it sits out in the weather. My trailer is fairly small, I use a 6" brush. Usually takes an afternoon to do the bed, both sides, and the sides. For larger stuff, I'd probably use a roller or sprayer. Takes about 2 quarts to do the equivalent of an 8'x8' area, both sides.
Stan
Karl, back when you and I were both kids (50 years ago), automatic transmission fluid (used) was the way to keep board fences from drying out. Most popular was Chevron which was red in color. I pumped gas from age 16 to 21 and we would give it away to anyone that asked.
Ivan Vegvary
Get some stain. It lasts better than 'water treatment', and will cure so you don't leave an oily runoff when the rains arrive. It's easy to redo when the time comes (paint isn't so forgiving).
It'll cure water-resistant, so it'd be nice if you could store the trailer non-level (to let water run off).
I cheated when I did the deck on mine. I pulled the the old wood off, drilled the holes in the new wood and then pulled it off, then laid a cheap plastic tarp down on the frame making a shallow tank. New wood got dropped in the tank and I poured a couple 5 gallon pails of deck oil in. Went out and turned them every now and then while they soaked for a couple days. Tossed another tarp over it to keep bugs/rain out. Drained the tank back into the two 5 gallon pails. Lost about 2.5 gallons into the wood. Bolted it all down and it has held up real well for the past 4 years.
Travel to somewhere a long way away from Kalifornia and get something with Copper-chromium-arsenate or organo-boron salts in it :-)
Mark Rand RTFM
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