Best wood preservative for sheds ranked by strength and price [Summer 2021]

Cuprinol 5 Star is and has been ahead of the pack for two decades. It’s the only treatment for wood I use and it is the best wood preservative for sheds in my mind, and has been for as long as I can remember.

The general purpose, one size fits all, fungus killing, woodworm decimating treatment that is absolutely perfect for protecting sheds. You will literally watch dry rot wilt and foam up in front of your eyes on application. Credit where credit is due, this is an exceptional performing product, a rarity these days. The thing that makes Curpinol 5 Star a cut above the rest is reliability. I have been using this for the best part of twenty years. Guess what? My shed that is bedded onto a concrete base is still in good nick and was installed a decade ago. You can thank Cuprinol 5 start for that. It’s nasty stuff, make sure you wear masks and eye protection. A really good mask at that. Gloves are a good shout too. I’ve got this on my fingers, no they didn’t burn off, but my skin started going red and itchy even though I washed it off minutes after. It clearly tears down anything biological fast. That includes woodworm as well. So if you have an infestation, get out the sprayer and soak your timber with this. A word of warning; this is nasty nasty stuff. Don’t set a fine mist, set it to squirt out. You really do not want to breathe this stuff in and a mist will increase the chances exponentially. As I pointed out on my hands, your lungs will not be grateful if you do.

Another word of warning. All these treatments suggest damp is ok to apply. I’ll tell you right now, bone dry timber absorbs moisture (the treatment in this case) far more effectively. So a hot bone dry timber is the best way to fully treat your shed. Just load up the sprayer and it’ll absorb in no time (again remember a squirt setting not fine mist). We’ve got plenty of time in this lockdown, so pick your dry. A run like we have had here at the end of May is absolutely ideal. That’s why I am here refreshing this review to remind myself of the chore coming up tomorrow!

This is clear, and won’t leave a stain and cannot be faulted. Look around the internet, you’ll find the only complaints are with packaging or cost, maybe even delivery, but the product itself is second to none and has been that way for years. The only reason you don’t buy this product is purely down to timing and availability in my opinion.

Let us start this review with the EVBLJCR05 clear wood preserver from Everbuild. The Everbuild EVBLJCR05 wood preserver comes in a can of 5 litres. This is a clear wood preserver and hence does not add any colour to your wood or stain it. This preservative has very low odour and is made using the Micro-fine technology. In this technology, the algaecides and fungicides (biocidal chemical components also found in weedkiller) used are properly distributed to achieve the penetration needed. This wood preservative gets absorbed fast and evenly so that the algae or fungi will not be able to attack your wooden shed.

The Everbuild EVBLJCR05 wood preserver is a solvent free wood preserver that can be used even on damp woods. Be it dry rot or wet rot, this clear wood preserver liquid can protect your wooden shed. Another benefit of this Everbuild EVBLJCR05 wood preserver is that it is non flammable which protects your shed even from small fires. This dries out quickly and is not harmful to plants once it is dry. The consistency of this makes it easy to use a garden sprayer while applying and the preservative will penetrate the wood very fast. It binds well with the wood and offers superior protection. Once this dries out you can treat your shed with varnish or wood paint.

The next one on the list is a wood preservative that is in the same category as the previous one. This is a coloured wood preservative. I am referring to the Sikkens SIKCHLSPLO5 wood preserver. Sikkens is a well known name in this field and the Sikkens SIKCHLSPLO5 wood preserver proves why it is so. This is a Cetol HLS plus variant that is a translucent wood stain. They come in different natural looking colours and variants. You can coat about 6 – 18 square metres of wood with one litre of Sikkens SIKCHLSPLO5 HLS plus wood preserver. This stat may vary depending on the wood type and the condition of the wood surface. This wood preserver dries out pretty fast; within 5 hours.

The translucent nature of this liquid gives a beautiful look to your wooden shed. By offering top notch protection against algae and fungi (mould), this wood preserver both safeguards the wood as well as prevents cracking and peeling. The Sikkens SIKCHLSPLO5 wood preserver is UV radiation resistant. This helps retain the real colour of the wood for a longer time by reducing the impact of the ultra violet rays. The HLS plus wood preserver is water resistant and is micro porous. You can use this not only for wooden sheds but also for a wooden fence. The Citole HLS plus can be used as both finishing and base wood preservative. However, using this as a stand alone solution would not be as effective as one might expect.

This is another product that comes with the choice of multiple colours. The Ronseal SFWPDB5L shed and fence wood preservative listed here is dark brown in colour. They also sell other variants of brown colour like autumn and light. This is a solvent based wood preservative that penetrates deep into the wood. Solvent based paints or wood preservatives dries up faster when they are in contact with oxygen. Another plus point about the solvent based preservative is that they can protect your shed from insects like wood worms and safeguard against re-infestation. Hence the Ronseal SFWPDB5L shed and fence wood preservative can help you to preserve the shed from decay and rot.

You can even say that this is a 2 in 1 preservative because it can remove any existing infestation and also protect against the same. This is water resistant and comes in a 5 litre metal can. If you like to give a brown colour to your shed you can buy this product and can rest assured about your wooden shed being in safe hands.

The above mentioned wood preserver was a coloured (brown) solution. But this wood preserver is a clear solution. The Sikagard wood preserver is a solvent free formula which means it may take a little more time to dry up compared to the previous one. However, there is not much difference in the time taken. This is non flammable and you can be worry free about that while working with this.

The Sikagard wood preserver can be used for both interior and exterior use. Applying Sikagard wood preserver on damp timber is also possible. The micro emulsion technology used in the Sikagard wood preserver makes it superior to other solvent based formulae. Because of that the Sikagard wood preserver dries out faster and penetrates the wood deeper to provide more protection. This wood preserver can also be used for fences, windows, and doors.  This should be used as pre-treatment before applying any paint or wood stains to obtain the best protection.

Next, let us look into a wood preserver that comes both in coloured as well as colourless forms from a manufacturer who has been in this business for over a century. The one I have mentioned here will give the treated wood the colour of Ebony – a colour famous for its lustrous look. This colour gives a shiny look for your wooden shed. The Blackfriar BKFGSWPEB5L gold star wood preservative also comes in dark green colour. It comes in a 5 litre can that will cover 25 square metres of area with 2 coatings. Be sure that the second coating should be applied only after 24 hours so that the first coating will get enough time to penetrate deep into the wood. The deep penetration to the wood material makes it a reliable protection against the boring insects.

This wood preservative can also be used for fences, your garden furniture, cladding, and other timbers along with the wooden sheds. In fact, it can also be used as the pre-treatment for anti-slip coatings on timber decking. You need to use the traditional old-fashioned brush to apply this mixture on the wood. This HSE approved wood preserver from Blackfriar is very easy to use and protects your shed and fence from damages caused by water.

The last one on this list is a clear wood preserver – CUPRINOL 5083487 wood preserver. As we discussed earlier in most of the cases we apply wood preservative before painting or staining or varnishing the wood. The CUPRINOL 5083487 wood preserver is also a product that can be used in the same manner. It protects your wooden shed from rot and decay. It also protects the wood from blue-staining fungi and mould. This is a colourless formula that can be used for both interior and exterior application. One litre of the CUPRINOL 5083487 wood preserver can cover about 5 square metres area when applied as two coats.

The CUPRINOL 5083487 wood preserver can take up to 5 days to dry out even though it does not take that long, most of the time. It depends on the climate because in wet weather it will take longer, which is not unusual. You do not have to worry about your plants and pets once it is dried out because once dried this wood preserver becomes completely harmless. This low odour wood preserver can be applied using a sprayer. Each wood preserver can comes with 2.5 litres of liquid. They also sell this in 5 litres can if you need more quantity. Being in this market for more than 7 decades this manufacturer has seen it all in this business. All the experience has been brought into the manufacturing of CUPRINOL 5083487 wood preserver making it a definite choice to do the job.