There's a natural beauty and charm to timber. Its warm and comforting qualities, connection to nature, and ability to add instant appeal, make it a top choice for many home owners to use on their exterior.
Resene exterior wood care products are your best friend when it comes to achieving lasting protection on timber surfaces while also letting the grain and beauty of the wood shine through.
It’s likely you’ve spent your hard-earned money on your home, and you’ll want to make sure it looks its best for many years to come. Resene’s exterior Woodsman range enhances and protects everything from weatherboards and decks to fences and furniture.
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Chair and table in Resene Woodsman Limed Oak, stool in Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil in Tararua, planter in Woodsman English Walnut, trellis in Resene Furniture and Decking Oil. Project by Amber Armitage, image by Wendy Fenwick.
What to use where
The Resene Woodsman range includes Woodsman Decking Oil Stain; a durable waterborne formula made specifically for decks and other walk-on surfaces, and Woodsman Wood Oil Stain, a solvent-borne option that penetrates deeply into timber for a rich, traditional oiled look.
Both of these provide a transparent to semi-transparent finish that celebrates timber’s natural character, rather than hiding it.
There’s also Kwila Timber Stain, which is designed for kwila and other exotic hardwoods and is very popular on decking, furniture and garage doors. As well as Furniture and Decking Oil, a lightly coloured oil ideal for decks and furniture.
For smaller timber projects, Resene’s Timber and Furniture Gel is much like a furniture polish, but for outside projects, this thicker product is easier to apply than a standard stain you’d use on larger surfaces so it’s great for getting into all those smaller corners which you often find on chairs and tables.
Outdoor space using Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil in shades Egmont on weatherboards, Aorangi on trellis and Mt Aspiring on planter. Deck in Resene Walk-on in Merino. Project by Amber Armitage, image by Wendy Fenwick.
Using timber as a statement
Available in a wide range of hues, from soft greys and weathered whites to dramatic charcoals, the Resene Woodsman range gives you the flexibility to achieve any style, from coastal calm to contemporary contrast.
Tested on everything from cedar to pine, it’s a product line that balances beauty with performance, a natural fit for New Zealand design.
As well as staining weatherboards and decks, Resene Colour Expert Meryl Southey suggests “introducing dramatic structural elements like slatted pergolas, multi-dimensional timber entryways and custom wooden privacy screens. This allows you to utilise rich Resene exterior stains to transform outdoor living areas into architectural statements”.
There are also ways to highlight the beauty of timber, such as balancing its organic warmth with contrasting textures. This will elevate your outdoor space taking it from simple to sophisticated. “Pair rich wood grain against an industrial feature coated in Resene FX Faux Rust Effect or a sleek shimmering surface in Resene FX Metallics to offer a striking visual tension that heightens the unique character of each material,” says Meryl.
Emerging from nature itself, timber also looks wonderful with materials such as real greenery in landscaping and gardens, stone, schist and brick.
Wall stained in Resene Woodsman Smokey Ash, deck in Woodsman Decking Oil Stain Tiri, screen painted in Ironsand. Lamp from Jardin, screen from Mitre 10. Project by Melle Van Sambeek, image by Bryce Carleton.
Resene Pro Tips:
Be sure to give your deck or timber surface a deep clean before staining or re-staining. Prep makes all the difference when it comes to a perfect, lasting finish.
If you’re using a darker stain like Pitch Black or Bark, use the Resene CoolColour version to reflect more heat, protecting timber and your exterior from sun damage and reducing interior heat transfer.
When including stained timber surfaces as part of your exterior, keep in mind that these surfaces will need to be re-stained every few years to maintain the look of the wood and protect the substrate from moisture and UV damage. Whenever possible, keep stained timber elements at ground level on accessible areas so that future maintenance is quick and easy. Darker stains will also last significantly longer between re-staining.
Lastly, always test your stain colours before starting. Stains are transparent, therefore the final finish colour will depend on the nature of the timber being stained. When applied to light woods, stains will appear much stronger and brighter in colour than stains applied to dark wood.
