The deck on my new to me car trailer needs attention. The PO re-decked it a few times, but the current boards are starting to show their age. What steps should I take to preserve them? The wood is in good shape, so I want to do something now to keep them from going away prematurely.
One option seems to be to stain the wood. Another maybe to paint the deck? What about bedliner?
Current pic:
mine has looked like that for 12 years and is no worse for the wear. if you're concerned get a deck sealer.
Good to know! Do nothing is an option. 
Thompson's Water Seal?
I'm with Pat on this. Mine looks the same.
How about spray it with creosote and then a layer of marine grade plywood on top?
There's a weatherproofing treatment...I'm at a loss for what it's called, but apparently better than Thompson's. I used it to treat the top & bottom of my new decking, even though I used treated wood, and was glad I did.
If you do decide to paint it, make sure you add sand to the top coat. Mine had a painted deck when I got it, but just a bit of snow/water and it was downright treacherous...a bit of oil added to the mix and you'd probably end up on YouTube from the resulting mayhem.
I wonder if something like this would work. I don't mind putting in some labor on it, if doing so will help make it last.
My grandpa put a 50-50 mix of turpentine and linseed oil on the cedar shingle roof. It seems to work as well as the Thompson product. I have used both and never noticed much difference between them.
dyintorace wrote: I wonder if something like this would work. I don't mind putting in some labor on it, if doing so will help make it last.
Stuff works well, but really you would have to pull each board and do all 4 sides to keep them from rotting. If I were doing all that, might as well do fresh wood just to make it 100%
I used pressure treated lumber, then painted it with grippy deck paint from Lowes. The paint has some kind of grit in the paint.
Worked great for 15+ years with the trailer exposed to the elements the entire time.
Rog
When I bought my open trailer it had a wood deck of untreated southern yellow pine. It didn't last long. I replaced it with treated lumber but didn't cover the whole deck, I left the middle open. After dealing with cupping, splitting or warping boards and having to replace them every 5 years I ended up replacing the lumber with 1/8 diamond sheet steel. I guess the weather in the Chicago area is just to tough on exposed wood. I had the shop that cut the steel put a 90 deg. bend along one side to add stiffness, the other side was welded to the steel frame of the trailer. It's been 10+ years and the only thing I've had do is paint the deck ever 4-5 years if I want the paint to remain glossy.
Hmm... I wonder how much extra weight you'd gain by using the fake-wood decking material instead of wood?
The fake stuff is pretty floppy. At a guess it would flex too much for trailer use.
Toyman01 wrote: The fake stuff is pretty floppy. At a guess it would flex too much for trailer use.
Good point, it might not work if the supports for the decking aren't close enough together. I wonder if the marine-grade stuff they build docks out of would be stiffer? It's never seemed all that flexy to me, but it probably still can't handle a ton of distance between supports with the weight of a car on it.
Mine looked like that 15 years ago. Looks worse now. Its 26 years old. Might have to change the boards soon because they are starting to cup and some of the bolts have begun to pop. Need to buy new wheels and tires now. The original rims are starting to rust real bad and I don't trust them anymore. I don't know of a trailer with more miles or seen more abuse than mine.
tr8todd wrote: Mine looked like that 15 years ago. Looks worse now. Its 26 years old. Might have to change the boards soon because they are starting to cup and some of the bolts have begun to pop. Need to buy new wheels and tires now. The original rims are starting to rust real bad and I don't trust them anymore. I don't know of a trailer with more miles or seen more abuse than mine.
mine is catching up, it's 21 years old and gets dragged all over with heavy vehicles on it. right now there is a dually without a rear axle, and the jack stands have been supporting the weight of the truck, right in between the supports, for 2 months. the boards are going to last 20-25 years whether you put anything on them or not, it's treated 2x6.
NGTD wrote: Thompson's Water Seal?
People who know what they are talking about tell me that Thompsons's is crap, and a good rain storm will take it off. I use Cabot on my deck.
I've had to replace a few boards on my trailer. I use pressure treated 2x10s and paint them with regular old black Rustoleum with the grippy granular stuff mixed in.
petegossett wrote: There's a weatherproofing treatment...I'm at a loss for what it's called, but apparently better than Thompson's.
That would be...any other product on the market.
Pretty much any study I've seen has consistently rated Thompson's at the bottom of the barrel.
Thompsons is crap. Especially since it went water based. Last time I shopped, I could only find Olympic in oil based.
Polyurethane thinned down heavily so it can soak in deep let dry 4-5 hours then apply a regular coat.
Paint it with automatic transmission fluid. Retouch as required.
Tom_Spangler wrote:NGTD wrote: Thompson's Water Seal?People who know what they are talking about tell me that Thompsons's is crap, and a good rain storm will take it off. I use Cabot on my deck. I've had to replace a few boards on my trailer. I use pressure treated 2x10s and paint them with regular old black Rustoleum with the grippy granular stuff mixed in.
I checked out Cabot and they have this product. This might be perfect. It is even skid-resistant.
http://www.cabotstain.com/products/product/Deck-Correct.html
Sooner or later you'll need to change the deck, better to do it now instead of spending money on repairing it. When I installed the decking I used composite boards. So, I suggest you buy composite boards as well. You can find more information about it on [the bottom of my canoe. which is the only berkeleying place to find it].
Expanded Metal. This trailer was built 19 years ago, same decking for 19 years.
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