Wooden exteriors are a timeless choice for any home. Whether you’ve chosen wood for your fence, decking, cladding, louvres, or other outdoor structures, you’ll want to know what is the the best finish for exterior wood to treat and maintain your exteriors so they keep it looking their best.
Here’s everything you need to know to make that decision:
Typically, there are three different finishes you can use on your exterior wood project: stain, varnish, and wood oil. The finish you choose will depend on the location of the wood, its use, whether you want to keep the natural look of the wood, and how often you will maintain the finish.
There are two types of wood stains you’ll come across; oil-based and water-based stains. Oil based stains penetrate the surface fibers while water based stains penetrate and also leave a membrane on the surface.
Varnish forms a water repellent seal on the wood surface. Varnish suits semi-protected areas like joinery and doorways. In order to maintain weather tightness, varnish needs to be rigorously checked and refinished when it shows signs of wear.
These split into two types as well; penetrating and migrating wood oil.
Penetrating oil: Oils like Dryden OilStain Exterior deeply penetrates into the wood to nourish it from within.
Dryden WoodOil migrates into the wood and conditions the timber, keeping it from cracking and warping.
Dryden WoodOil needs to be reapplied about every 6 months to 2 years, to maintain the beauty and shine of the exterior surfaces. Our timber maintenance guides explain everything you need to know about how to maintain timber cladding and decking.
Wooden exteriors are a beautiful and durable material that, when treated with care and quality products, will last a lifetime.
Exterior wood protection oil is the way to go if you want to enhance the natural warmth and grain of low traffic areas like fences and cladding.
Dryden WoodOil is a high quality, water-repellent oil that migrates into the timber. It prevents water ingress, warping, and splitting. Truly versatile, wood oil can be applied on most species of wood and both old and new, rough and smooth surfaces.
Made in New Zealand, Dryden WoodOil is specially formulated to withstand our harsh weather and UV conditions.
Dryden's WoodOil is carefully crafted to maintain a balance between aesthetics and protection. While their formulations provide unrivaled safeguarding against UV rays, they also enhance the wood's innate beauty. The result is an outdoor space that not only stands the test of time but becomes a testament to the exquisite harmony of nature.
WoodOil
Dryden WoodOil can be used on most woods, including:
most softwood species, such as Radiata Pine, Macrocarpa, Western Red Cedar, Yellow Cedar, Larch, and Redwood
most hardwood species, such as Purpleheart, Garapa, Vitex, Kwila, Tonka, Rosewood, Iroko and Jarrah
other timber products, such as modified timber (e.g. thermal or acetylated), plywood and laminated timbers
new and old, dressed and band-sawn timbers
Read more information for the best oil for Cedar wood weatherboards.
Dryden WoodOil is suitable for use on:
Cladding
Shingle roofs
Fences
Louvres
Exterior Doors
We don’t recommend Dryden WoodOil for hard-wearing surfaces such as decks and outdoor furniture, instead use Dryden OilStain for these areas.
Dryden OilStain Exterior is suitable for use on:
Hardwood timber screening
Doors and windows
Plywood/timber
Beams
Fascia boards
Shutters
Joinery
Fences
Wooden posts
Engineered products like composite wood
Find more information on Dryden OilStain Exterior use & application.
Dryden WoodOil is a clear product allowing wood to naturally silver and weather. If you want to deepen or alter your wood colour you can still use WoodOil instead of stain. Add colour to Dryden WoodOil with Colourtone+ to enhance or update the wood colour according to your preferred look. This gives you all the benefits of WoodOil with the colour that you get from a stain.
Now you’ve decided on Dryden WoodOil, how much do you buy? Below are some rules of thumb to figure out how many litres to buy. Remember, timber type, dryness, and outdoor temperature all affect the amount of WoodOil needed.
Timber type | Coverage rate (m²/litre) |
New band-sawn plywood | 6-8 |
Any restored timber (low density) | 6-8 |
New band-sawn timber (low density) | 8-10 |
New modified timber | 8-12 |
New dressed timber (low density) | 10-12 |
Read How to Protect Wood to learn about Dryden WoodOil Application and Maintenance.
Need some inspiration?
Check out our timber image gallery for the latest wood trends and colours.
PINE MAINTENANCE
KWILA DECK MAINTENANCE
OTHER GUIDES
