On Mon, 13 Jun 2005 19:11:07 +0100, "Nick" wrote:

Never used Organoil and will have a look, but a traditional protective is
Tung or Teak oil.

Tung isn't very good (alone) outdoors. Teak oil is only for teak, ipe or
similar (it's mainly for appearance and assumes the wood is already
inherently oily)

I have some oak doors (external) that are approaching 100 years old and are
in remarkably good fettle.

That's because they're oak. If they're English white oak (or French)
then they'll last well just thrown outdoors and ignored, so long as
they're a big enough cross-section that radial cracking isn't a
structural problem. American white oak (Q. alba) isn't quite so robust,
but is still pretty good.

I don't know what Habitat are using these days. It could be a red oak
though, which is much less resistant and will need a finish.