Special
Outdoor floors: care and maintenance
THE ‘HOLY TRINITY’ TAKES CARE OF OUTDOOR WOOD OUTDOOR WOOD LASTS MUCH LONGER THAN A QUARTER OF A CENTURY suppose that we can be well satisfied with 25 years. However, the durability class does not give the maximum lifespan of a wooden terrace. A professionally fitted wooden terrace does not come into contact with the ground, is regularly cleansed from the natural effects of the climate, and is given a treatment so that it can withstand the ravages of time. And so, a wooden terrace can certainly survive its proud owner.
Enemies of outdoor wood
Photo – Rubio Monocoat
Indoor wooden floors are susceptible to numerous influences which cause wear and ageing e.g. the use, the fitting of furniture, moisture content, temperature, accidental threats, etc. No one doubts the fact that wooden floors need to be treated and maintained in a suitable manner. With outdoor floors we can go a step further. In this case the causes of that wear can be compared perfectly well with those of indoor floors, but there are some extra ones as well. The major threats stem from the climate and nature. Humankind and science are ‘on the alert’.
Misleading misunderstanding Wood is divided up into durability classes. These durability classes indicate the lifespan of the wood when it is left untreated in outdoor conditions. In other words, classes refer to the ‘natural lifespan’ of the wood. The natural lifespan of wood is the resistance which the wood puts up against the deterioration of organisms when it has not undergone any treatment to increase that resistance. Wood sorts are divided up into five categories. Class 1 has the longest lifespan and class 5 the lowest. Wood which is used for gardens, terraces, wall cladding, or other outdoor applications should obviously come from class I or II. Obviously, we need to take care that communication on the lifespan of wood does not lead to misunderstandings. The much talked about ‘quarter of a century’ is not the maximum! The information which we often find on the ‘durability classes’ of wood sometimes leads us to
UV light, oxygen, and water together cause ageing and possible wood rot. In a photochemical process the sunlight breaks up the dark-coloured lignin, one of the main components of wood. The other component, the light-coloured cellulose, is left behind on its own. The fact that the colour of the cellulose is going to dominate can be seen from the ageing. What we visually perceive to be ‘ageing’ is actually a microscopically thin layer of wood which is decomposing. Wood worm, wood rot, and fungi also constitute a major threat to all outdoor wood. The wood worm is a larva of the furniture beetle. The designation ‘worm’ therefore refers to the larvae, since the wood worm is basically a beetle. The wood worm lives in the wild mainly in trees with hard wood, such as oak and fruit trees. Wood rot is a fungus which mainly affects wood exposed to (excessive) damp. In some cases that fungus is visible. Finally, the polypore is a mushroom-type fungus which can cause a lot of damage to woodwork. The most notorious polypore is the so called dry rot.
Protective products A number of mechanical achievements extend the lifespan of wood in outdoor applications. These include the use of floor supports (so that water from below can no longer cause problems), the use of clip fasteners (so there are no vulnerable ‘wounds’ in the wood), and the design of the planks which avoids the problem of residual water. Other weapons come from the chemical industry. Terrace oil, terrace anti-ageing, and terrace cleaner are the top products in this category. Terrace oil provides effective protection from the penetration of damp and dirt since the oil impregnates the pores and saturates them. To provide protection against UV light, it is necessary to use coloured oil. Terrace anti-ageing is designed either to counter the ageing process or eliminate the decomposing layer of wood which is the source of the ageing. Anti-ageing products remove the veil and restore the original colour of the wood. Finally, terrace cleaners effectively counteract
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