Timber Treatment

At Batsford Timber, we offer expert timber treatment services to ensure that your wood products are durable, weather-resistant, and protected against decay, insects, and other environmental factors. Whether you’re constructing fences, decking, utility poles or more, we provide Tanalith and Creosote treatments, each designed to meet your specific needs for wood preservation.

Choosing between the two will largely depend on the specific needs of the timber, environmental factors, and any regulatory constraints in your region. If you have any questions regarding the use of Tanalith or Creosote for your next project, please get in touch with a member of our sales team.

Creosote

Creosote is a highly effective, time-tested wood preservative that provides long lasting protection for timber used in challenging outdoor environments. It is particularly suitable for applications where moisture exposure, soil contact, and pest resistance are key concerns.

• Preservation: Creosote penetrates into the wood, making it an ideal solution for timber exposed to extreme weather conditions. Its high penetration rate ensures that it protects the timber from the inside out, providing lasting durability and strength.
• Durability: Creosote treated wood has an extended service life, often lasting for decades without the need for re-treatment. This makes it a very cost effective way for long lasting timber for your project.
• Uses: It’s primarily used on outdoor timbers such as railway ties, utility poles and fence posts. Creosote treated wood is often used in environments with high moisture levels and exposure to the elements. It is not permitted for use in areas where contact is frequent with the general public, such as playgrounds or residential areas as proper precaution should be taken during handing and application.
• Finish: Creosote timber when treated tends to be darker in colour, however can vary between a light brown to a nearly black colour. The colour variation can be due to a number of factors, from species of timber, heartwood/sapwood content, moisture content, age of creosote and many more. The finished colour does not affect the service life of the treated timber.

Please note: Creosote is restricted to professional, agricultural & equestrian uses. If you have any questions regarding this, please contact a member of our sales team.

Tanalith® E

Tanalith® E is a water based, high pressure wood preservative that is industrially applied. A unique combination of copper and organic biocides, Tanalith® E has over three decades of real world performance and testing across numerous aggressive, independent field trials.

• Preservation & Durability: When impregnated into the timber through a high pressure process, Tanalith® E components bond with the wood structure and cannot easily be removed, helping to significantly extend its service life.
• Uses: Timber treated with Tanalith® E is suitable for building and in ground contact applications, without any need for further protection. Common end-use applications include decking, cladding, fencing and landscaping timbers.
• Finish: Tanalith® E pressure treated timber has an initial natural green colouration. Upon external exposure, the initial green colour of Tanalith® E treated timber slowly weathers to a warm, honey brown and in the longer term becomes a natural silver grey. This weathering process does not indicate any loss of preservative protection.

To see how the treatment process for Tanalith E works, please click here.

To see a 'Timber Smart Guide' with information for specifying timber fencing and the important questions to ask, please click here.

Tanasote®

A modern alternative to Creosote, Tanasote® is an oil based copper wood preservative.

• Preservation & Durability: Being an oil based product, Tanasote® provides deep preservative penetration into the timbers. The oil mobility within the wood helps heal splits and checks.
• Uses: Tanasote® has been developed for industrial, high risk applications including utility poles, railway sleepers and agricultural fencing. With a low odour, Tanasote® is user friendly. Several years test evidence (across 5 sites) show horses do not crib on Tanasote® treated posts.
• Finish: Typically, timber treated with Tanasote® has initial emerald green colouration. Upon external exposure, the green colour slowly darkens to a deep brown/black and looks very similar to Creosote treated timber.