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Do you paint your trailer deck or leave it plain?

10K views 14 replies 11 participants last post by  JagT20N 
#1 ·
I see a lot of trailers just have plain treated wood as the deck, anyone paint or stain theirs? I suppose it's not necessary if it's treated though.

Opinions.
 
#11 ·
I was gonna put some pigmented stain on my 2 trailers, but my local lumberyard person told me that the trailer planks generally rot from the bottom up, as moisture hangs around more where the plank sits on the trailer beams. He told me the bottom will be shot long before the top side of the planks become a problem. So I decided not to bother this year.
 
#13 ·
I haven't treated mine with anything, and it stays outside. The paint on the trailer suffers more than the wood as it's black and gets hot. I have heard of people using stain, tung oil, linseed oil, even used motor oil to try and seal the boards, but remember, you really need to seal the bottom too, after all that's where a lot of the moisture comes from when driving/etc. If it were me, and I was going to do anything in the form of sealing, I would wait until it was time for new boards, and then treat them somehow and let them dry completely before assembling the trailer boards again. This way the boards are protected 360*.

You also need to consider the surface of the treatment. Don't want to slide all over your trailer when it's a little damp after all, might break a leg or something.
 
#15 ·
on pine planks we paint both sides before we install them and soak the paint or oil in real good ( apatung or bamboo goes on dry as the woods oils protect it ) , homer points out were the actual damage starts , as you drive don the road if its wet it will pressure blast the bottom with water and will not dry out for several days and if you drive over a salted road in the winter the salt will asorb in the planks and makes them swell and break up . we have used bed liner on the undersides with good luck , and then when the top wears we oil it or use a good sealer , remember pressure treated is only for fungus and insects not water . they do make a water resistant wood but its resin inpregnated and costs $$$$ as its marine use and you might be cheaper to use steel decking .
 
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