The sunny days are just around the corner, it’s time to maintain your wooden exterior surfaces so that you can take full advantage of them when the time comes. All you have to do is sweep away the dead leaves and dust that have accumulated on your wooden terrace, clean the edges of your pool, protect and decorate the garden shed and finally, repaint the children’s shed before summer (as promised for months). However, a few questions remain: floor impregnator-Decking oil/Saturateur or Impregnation varnish, for my wooden terrace, fence, garden fence and wooden flower boxes? Remember that exterior wood needs to be maintained and that the secret to its longevity depends on the care you give it. Thus, we choose the ideal product according to the needs of each substrate, so that we can fully enjoy our exterior with absolute peace of mind.

What is the difference between an Impregnation Varnish and the impregnating Oil for floors – Decking Oil?

It is decided, you want to take care of your exterior wooden surfaces, but you wonder about the right product for the objects and surfaces that “sleep” outside.

Dilemma, you no longer know the difference between these two finishes, nor on which substrates to apply them. To do this, let yourself be guided:

What is Wood Impregnation Varnish?

Impregnation varnish is a finishing product that allows you to protect and decorate all your exterior and interior wooden structures, provided that they are in a vertical position. Thanks to its composition, impregnation varnish penetrates the wood in depth to offer it long-lasting protection against bad weather conditions (rain, frost, UV, extreme temperatures, etc.).

Impregnation varnishes also allow you to decorate your exterior wood with a palette of semi-transparent colors, letting the natural pores of the wood show through.

Let yourself be inspired by a golden or light-colored impregnation varnish for Oak, Teak, Ebony or White wood, such as Lasure ULD Micro 8 χρόνια or Xylodhone Aquarethane 5 χρόνια, which will undoubtedly enhance the original appearance of your wooden cladding.

Impregnation varnishes can be applied to all types of wood, whether soft, hard or exotic:

New or untreated wooden surfaces: you can apply the product directly (except for exotic woods, remember to degrease them beforehand).

Greyed or blackened wooden surfaces: it is ideal to use a cleaner-degreaser such as Degriseur-Syntilor to clean them and then sand the surface before applying the impregnation varnish.

Wooden surfaces with pre-existing impregnation varnish: a light sanding (sandpaper, etc. 120) is sufficient before application.

Painted or varnished wood: sanding or complete removal with an abrasive to reveal clean wood.

What is wood impregnation for floors – Decking oil/Saturateur?

The wood impregnation for floors – Decking oil/Saturateur is a product that impregnates the surface of the wood to offer it both nutritional protection (prevents the wood from drying out) and to give it a beautiful decorative effect. It protects horizontal wood from climatic attacks (UV, humidity, bad weather, etc.).

Due to its high resistance to chlorinated water, it is an ideal product for swimming pool areas.

Easy to maintain and apply, it does not peel over time despite bad weather conditions and repeated use in traffic.

There are different types of wood impregnation for floors – Decking Oil/Saturateur:

Solvent Decking Oil/Saturateur: such as Decking Oil – Saturateur Blanchon, which provides nutritional protection and is available in 2 shades: exotic IPE wood and colorless.

Water base Decking Oil/Saturateur, natural wood: to maintain and enhance the original appearance of the wooden substrate, such as Saturateur Ultra Protect (in teak, light wood and natural).

Wood floor impregnations – Decking oil/Saturateur, can be applied to all types of wood (European, exotic or factory-impregnated wood)

New wooden substrates: no preliminary preparation is required. Exotic woods should be lightly degreased before treatment.

Raw and/or greyed wood: must be cleaned beforehand with a greying cleaner-remover Degriseur-Syntilor.

Wood with old finishes (paint, impregnation varnish, varnish, etc.): sanding or complete removal with an abrasive to reveal clean wood.

In summary

Now, you have come a long way in understanding the advantages and uses of the finishes presented. You finally know which product can match the maintenance and/or renovation project for your wooden surfaces. However, you are still not sure about the surfaces to which you will apply the product.

Remember that there are 2 families in which we can classify the different wooden elements: vertical wood and horizontal wood.

For vertical wood: impregnation varnish

Exterior wood impregnation varnishes are applied with great success to all vertical surfaces such as: shutters, gates, doors, fences, garden sheds, sheds, cladding, chalets, etc.

For horizontal wood: wood impregnation for floors – Decking oil/Saturateur

For exterior carpentry work in a horizontal position, choose exclusively a wood impregnation for floors – Decking oil/Saturateur e.g. wooden terraces, slabs, gratings or wooden slats etc.

Whether you choose a wood impregnation for floors – Decking oil/Saturateur or an impregnation varnish for your exterior wood cladding, it is very important to take into account the needs and desired results.

Take into account the level of exposure of your surfaces to humidity, UV rays, frequency of use etc.