Timber Properties

Cement Dust and Timber

Way back in May 2016, Preschem was asked to give a presentation to the Victorian Woodworkers Association. The topic was Why Timber Changes Colour, which we turned into a news article for the Preschem website. We decided to revisit this topic as we were recently contacted by Shane, who had developed an issue with Aussie Clear Light exterior timber oil on his new Silvertop Ash deck. He noticed that 2 weeks after he oiled and it rained and that the Aussie Clear Light had pretty much disappeared. What was alarming, was the timber had gone quite grey where the rain had fallen.

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in FAQ / News and Updates / Timber Properties  by Preschem 0 comments

Why Timber Changes Colour

Exposure to Weather | Sapstain Mould | Bluestain Mould | Iron Staining

Earlier this month (May 2016), Preschem was asked to give a presentation on why timber changes colour at the Victorian Woodworkers Association. This got us thinking that this topic would make a great general knowledge post. After all, this will assist with some of those decisions on what to do when building something out of wood.

Why does timber change colour?

  1. Exposure to weather, including UV and rain
  2. Staining due to natural or introduced causes
  3. Chemical changes within the wood resins, or “extractives”
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in FAQ / News and Updates / Timber Properties  by Rohan Baker 30 comments

Timber Properties and Decay. Part II

 

Brown Rot

White rot with mycelium

The following article was published by the Professional Pest Manager magazine in their August-September 2014 edition. It was the followup article/conclusion to the June-July 2014 edition.

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The prevention of wood rot falls into 2 categories, moisture barriers and timber preservatives. Moisture barriers can be any membrane like material that physically limits or stops moisture ingress. The most common forms of barriers are surface coatings such as paints, varnishes or specialised synthetic membranes. While these are usually brilliant in preventing moisture uptake, they do have a potential downside. If they begin to fail, the moisture can become trapped behind the barrier.

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in News and Updates / Timber Decay / Timber Properties  by Preschem 0 comments

Timber Properties and Decay

Timber Properties and Decay | Timber decay around homes

This article first appeared in the Professional Pest Manager Magazine June/July edition (Subscription only). Please note it was written with pest controllers in mind.

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Timber decay around homes and properties is generally poorly understood by the general public. Pest controllers will inevitably come across decay that has been miss-diagnosed by the property owner as termite or borer attack. Thankfully, due to the internet, this is less of an issue now than it used to be, but sometimes a little information (from the internet) is a potential recipe for disaster. There is also no doubt that during the inspection process for a potential insect or rodent infestation, that the pest controller will come across decay. There would be hardly a premises in Australia that doesn’t contain it in some shape or form.

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in FAQ / News and Updates / Timber Decay / Timber Properties  by Rohan Baker 1 comments
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