Is linseed oil paint a crazy idea for a chicken shed?

[JoceAndChris]

Hello everyone!

I've been so busy trying to get it all ready for them, but maybe I should just hold fire on the painting and think about linseed? Of course the dads want me to slap the Creosote on, but I hate it. I want it a soft green, this shed is visible from all over town!

The shed in question is old and very lovely (to my eyes anyway ) - I suspect it's Victorian or early 20th C but constructed with some original fragments of Beacon Cottage; I recognise the oak guttering for a start. The rest of it looks like oak and ash floorboards to me. The window is Georgian, with ancient fragments of cloth nailed to it, I love that. It's had a new tin roof.

Linseed paint, F & B, or Creosote? It's had Creosote before- maybe 20 years ago though.

There are only going to be 5 birds to start off with, poor little things will be so lost in there. I might have to sleep there too!

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Creosote is not a good idea - chooks may peck or scratch the wood. Even modern "creosote-lite" is not pleasant stuff.

 

[Tom]

I wouldn't use any of these 3 suggestions. You can now buy water-based timber preservative, which is safe for animals and the environment. I've used it for years on our sheds and stables and it does a great job. You can get it from all the usual outlets and it's very reasonably priced. Indeed, I don't think you can actually buy Creosote any more, although I may be wrong.

Hope this helps
Jaqy

 

[JoceAndChris]

Thanks Robin and Jaqy, I know you both have animals and this is useful... but I really want it painted, not stained, and a "historic" colour too as it's so visible.

Is linseed oil paint not safe for animals? Of course I'm not painting the inside!

 

[Feltwell]

I don't see any reason why you can't use linseed oil paint, although it's very expensive for a shed!

Jaqy - if you're referring to items with names like "shed and fence care" then I'm sorry to tell you they are quite literally about 98% water with a bit of dye chucked in. The more expensive ones have some wax as well so the water beads up on the surface of the wood. They really don't do anything other than colour the wood. I used to manage the supply of those products for one of the big DIY chains.

"Proper" creosote you can no longer get unless you're in the trade and buy it in in big drums, which is just daft. The Creosote substitutes are not very pleasant, have high levels of Volatile Organic Compounds in them. But then any wood preservative isn't really going to be very environmentally friendly by it's very nature!

If you really want it painted then linseed paint probably is the best stuff, so long as your pockets can stretch to it! A little does go a long way though.

 

[Tom]

I've used the wood care with oil in for years and had no problems at all. The finish looks good, it repels the rain and brushes (and clothes!) are cleaned in water....what more could you want? I think it's great!!

Jaqy

 

[biffvernon]

timber preservative...safe for...the environment.

Oxymoron.

 

[Flyfisher]

Your choice, of course, Joce, but could you perhaps be over-doing it tiny bit? It's only a hen house! You'll be wanting a £1600 floating duck house next. :wink:

 

[Tom]

timber preservative...safe for...the environment.

Oxymoron.

You missed off the "water based". As said, it's water, oil and dye.....simples !!!

Jaqy

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol:
Definitely a duck house, need a lake first though.

I haven't priced up Holkams' product yet - just seen 0.75l is £40 from Womersley's- BUT- this stuff seems to last for years and years and need less repainting whereas I know I'd only get about 5 years out of exterior eggshell, plus feeling very pleased that we've managed to DIY this whole thing for a fraction of what it would have cost to buy a ready-made chicken house and run of that size, plus surely it's a good thing for this old timber to be able to breathe? I see it's had deathwatch, no sign of live infestation though.

Thanks for all the suggestions much valued PPUK!

 

[biffvernon]

timber preservative...safe for...the environment.

Oxymoron.

You missed off the "water based". As said, it's water, oil and dye.....simples !!!

Jaqy

So where does the 'preservative' bit come from? A timber preservative tends to be toxic to the organisms that decay the wood. It doesn't much matter whether the solvent is oil or water.

 

[Andrew Bodenham]

Osmo do a range of exterior coatings in a variety of colours, in both opaque and translucent varieties. I've not used them, but coverage (= economy) has been excellent on other Osmo products I have used. Might be worth a look. Google Osmo uk.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Thanks Andrew, I hadn't considered those- they look good if you like modern, strong colours. And yes, more economical. There is something very Germanic about the way those colours look to me though, I can't see them working in an 18th C English context.

Colours are tricky- it needs to be a sludgy olive much like the colour that is used by PPUK for their website (there's a huge brick 1980s workshop behind this shed for which I have sludgy olive plans to soften its vile appearance) - Holkhams suggest you mix your own required shade which necessitates buying several tins (and you could end up hating what you create). They say on their website they'll mix a colour only if you want a lot of paint.

Aglaia seem to have a much more comprehensive range of colours. They say their 0.75 l covers 8 sq m. 2 cans= enough + their undercoat = about £100, and as this is a lot more than a chicken shed to me (it's part of an entire scheme, it's living history) I think I can justify it.

 

[yamin]

If I weree you I'd be happy with £100. In the scheme of things its not that much if you can afford it at all, if you get my meaning. As you say you've saved loads on the shed itself, and if you want it to be a thing of colour and beauty then I say go for it! Better spend £60 extra and sit in the garden and admire it, than save £60 and stain it with B and Q whatever, and loathe the view whenever you look over! I have seen many recommendations on this site for expensive linseed oil for floors, and I have managed perfectly well with cheap stuff, my point being that 'over the top extravagance' to one person is reasonable and justified expenditure to another!

Go for it!

 

[JoceAndChris]

An excellent argument, particularly as it coincides with my own!

This sodding shed can be seen when you pull into town on the train, when you go to the gym, or drive out of Sainsbury's. If it's B&Q orange I'll never escape it.

Aglaia it is then.

 

[Moo]

You will, of course, provide us with before-and-after photographs of the shed and the workshop.

 

[Penners]

Your choice, of course, Joce, but could you perhaps be over-doing it tiny bit? It's only a hen house! You'll be wanting a £1600 floating duck house next. :wink:

Ah, the voice of reason!

Actually it's not the wood preservative that's a crazy idea. It's the chickens.

Stupid creatures.

 

[JoceAndChris]

You will, of course, provide us with before-and-after photographs of the shed and the workshop.

Of course! I have the before pictures ready to go onto Flickr, the after ones may be some time... a passion vine and a wisteria need to drape themselves elegantly over the workshop, yew must be chopped, curtains must be made for this chicken shed.

But I know you're a patient lot on PPUK, you'd have to be, to read through all my plans!

Actually it's not the wood preservative that's a crazy idea. It's the chickens.

Stupid creatures.

As overwhelmingly delighted as I am to see you back Penners ( how did it go, what's it like, we're dying for even the smallest pic!) I must take issue with you here. You need educating on the emotional capabilities and usefulness of birds. If you are in any doubt as to the intelligence of the Orpington chicken, read through the following moving account written by Simon Power my Norfolk bird supplier:

"Willow, our rather large Buff Orpington cockerel has been separated from his 3 wives (it's okay - he's a Mormon) for the last ten days. His lovemaking had been a tad amorous and he had managed to cut the sides open on one old lady and remove far too many feathers from the other two.....they needed a break.

Today, we opted to re-unite them all having applied mass amounts of anti-bacterial spray and having purchased a chicken protection saddle for the rather damaged girl (for those of you un-sure what a chicken protection saddle is...just consider it as a rather large contraceptive device).

With Willow tucked under my arm I trundled him up to his normal home with the expectation of placing him down followed by a hysteric run to mate with all his girls systematically (twice).....what occurred...nearly made Karen and I choke back tears.....

His 3 girls came running......to him. He opened his wings...and they cuddled....truly..it was a cuddle. One hen tucked in between his front legs....the others under each wing and they just stood together....silently..looking..so so happy to be together again....

Willow lifted his head and sniffed the air....still just holding his girls. No fuss, no feather ruffling, just 3 girls and a man in love who needed to be together......it made all we do here.....for one split second...seem perfect.

After a few minutes Willow let rip with the loudest, screeching cockerel crow I have ever heard...and he smiled....in a way that only a beaked bird can.....

All the mess, the stress, the continued building work today became irrelevant.....today we learnt that chickens really do have emotions.....

Why do we breed chickens? Because we are privileged to live with birds like Willow."

Now if that doesn't bring a tear to your eye you are not the sentimental old softie I took you for.

 

[biffvernon]

Don't go to town, definitely don't go to the gym or to Sainsbury's, do plant a Russian vine in front of the shed and soon you won't see it.

 

[yamin]

Have to say I was quite impressed at the Royal Show yesterday (last one ever ). We ventured into the 'poultry shed' and I have never realised what handsome fellows some of those birds can be!!!! Bloody noisy things too, but amazing plumage! And tasty too, Penners, whats not to like????