Carrefour du Bois 2022: Durieu passion for wood!

Always on the move and with the constant desire to improve and guarantee the effectiveness of its formulas, Durieu works closely with its R&D team and remains constantly attentive to the field to respond as closely as possible to the expectations of its end customers.

The essentials of wood by Durieu In France, the share of wooden constructions continues to increase steadily in the sector of individual housing, and the field of renovation of wooden structures is also on the rise.

Representing a little less than 10% of new housing, wooden structures have a bright future ahead of them, especially in the current era where the search for authentic and less impacting materials is essential. Similarly, wooden terraces and cladding continue to attract more and more French people, who pay particular attention to the decoration of their interior and exterior spaces since the successive confinements.

In addition, wood is the only construction material to store CO2 and faced with the environmental variable which is no longer an option but a well-defined constant in the specifications, building stakeholders, architects and individuals are increasingly more numerous to acclaim this material for their achievements.

But beware ! A noble material if ever there was one, it requires well-orchestrated attention, care and maintenance to guarantee its durability. Users seem to be more and more aware of this and are beginning to adopt the care step for wooden supports more easily.

What about wood species? We can simplify the classification of wood into 3 categories:

• Soft woods: often softwoods (larch, pine, red cedar, etc.) these are porous woods that require a rich and filling protection combining with the fibers of the wood to protect it in depth, effectively and durably.
• Hardwoods difficult to impregnate (chestnut, oak, etc.): you need a product that penetrates the wood and then impregnates it deeply to ensure its longevity.
• Exotic woods: they have very fine and tight pores and it is very difficult to get protection into these woods. It is therefore imperative to have a very targeted solution to adapt to this density.

Which type of wood for which support - different functions, specific requirements:

• Soft woods are more often used for exterior vertical supports: cladding, shutters, etc. These species are easier to work with for cladding than the less “flexible” hardwoods. In addition, on the facade, not being in direct confrontation with rainwater and UV rays, they will suffer less from their attacks and although less durable than other species, they will resist well vertically. They are also sometimes cheaper...
• Hardwoods they are rather intended for the wooden parts of the interior habitat: staircase, parquet, door, paneling... also for the shutters. Their density and stability make them last for intensive use provided the right finish is applied.
• exotic woods, originally intended for boat decks due to their resistance to harsh climatic conditions, have moved to dry land and are generally attributed to terraces and sometimes certain parquet floors or interior structures due to their good longevity. Their density and their appearance are ideal for these works which undergo intensive outdoor use and full-frontal climatic aggressions, while offering a beautiful aesthetic.

Why do woods deteriorate?

Who says wood says living material like our skin and which therefore undergoes the daily attack of UV rays, hygrometric variations, pollution, wind, rain, sea air, frost...

Clarification - Sun and water: two enemies of wood

• UV and wood: with UV, lignin, a component of wood along with water and cellulose, deteriorates and causes it to age. The support will turn white, gray and even crack. The stronger the sun, the more prematurely it will age.
• Water and wood: present in the wood, water naturally leads to hygrometric variations in the substrate, but bad weather intensifies the phenomenon: with water, the wood swells then deflates when it evaporates. Under the effects of hygrometric variations, it wears out and delaminates, that is to say it disintegrates into small strips: the very structure of the wood is damaged beyond repair. Water is also one of the driving forces for feeding all the insects and fungi that can attack and invade the wood.

Protection and maintenance are therefore the two maxims for woods that last:

Before thinking about protecting, you have to act to prepare, that is to say:

• Leave to deglaze if the wood is new.
• Clean or sober up if it is dirty: it regains its shine.
• Remove oil if it is dirty: to dissolve the grease that clogs the wood.
• Strip if necessary: ​​to remove old protections that are very film-forming and/or encrusted in the support.

Preparation solutions by Owatrol®

• NET-TROL® 200 to sober up.
• NET-TROL® 400 to remove oil then application of NET-TROL® 200 grease remover.
• DILUNET® to strip then NET-TROL® 200.

Please note: After having de-oiled or stripped, it is ABSOLUTELY necessary to stabilize the support with a coat of NET-TROL®* 200 in order to ensure the hold of the finish which will follow. This final step also allows you to lighten the wood a little more to restore its shine.

Once clean, protection step: each support has its own advice…

What actions to take? To avoid the vagaries of the weather, several options: stain, oil or saturate!

explanations:

• Stain protects against aging by leaving a film on the surface. They retain the appearance of wood and are used for cladding, most often in the mountains. Nevertheless, their film ends up flaking and it is necessary to strip before carrying out maintenance.
• Oils give a warm appearance to wood and are generally also applied to cladding but they can darken under the effect of UV and water and clog the wood. It must be stripped at the time of maintenance.
• The saturators impregnate and enter the wood to protect it in depth. The warm appearance and grain of the wood is preserved, there is no film on the surface and maintenance is simplified because there is no need to strip, a simple cleaning is enough. Saturators are increasingly used for cladding and for a long time on terraces.

Durieu's advice: Durieu favors saturators which provide a solution particularly suitable for all types of wood: soft and hard, in particular thanks to their impregnation qualities. The first, porous require a very nourishing protection and the second very hard need an impregnating finish which protects the heart of the wood. Protecting exotic woods may seem superfluous due to their apparent natural resistance, however without protection they will grey, tarnish, stain, deform and sometimes even crack. To make their unique appearance last, it is therefore essential to protect them.

Durieu's OWATROL® range offers saturators with ultra-efficient impregnation qualities that make them benchmarks for making substrates last.

Zoom PROTEXT®:

Aqueous phase saturator which provides total and perfect protection for all woods and in particular hardwoods. It combines 3 technologies, bringing together 3 resins that work together to give the wood an exceptional impregnation and exceptional durability qualities. It also makes it possible to magnify and preserve the beautiful aesthetics of red cedar structures.

Most:

• Reinforced UV protection to ensure truly optimal wood durability.
• Humidity regulator: once applied, PROTEXT®* prevents water from entering the wood, while letting the water vapor that is created naturally escape.