The improvement/renovation segment constituted in 2022 a significant growth vector for construction companies with an increase of 2,1% in 2022 and should continue to grow in 2023. Maintaining, renovating and taking care to make it last are now the watchwords for the building industry, whether in the professional or private sectors. For wooden structures, the attitude is the same, we no longer replace excessively without thinking but we choose to perpetuate them and we set up their maintenance and protection.
Maintenance yes, but how?
First commandment: cleaning.
Before any protection or maintenance action, the substrates should be properly prepared. Indeed, a finish cannot be applied if the surface has only been briefly sanded or vaguely cleaned with a water jet. The wood must be healthy, free of stains or residues, otherwise they will be accentuated once the finish has been applied or even damage it.
Second commandment: understand the wood.
Subjected to external aggressions, sun, rain, pollution, repeated passages, the wood works, grays, stains, undergoes hygrometric variations, swells and shrinks and can crack or see its previous protection peel off depending on its exposure. UV and water are therefore the great enemies of wood.
Third commandment: analysis.
Above all, it is important to observe and understand the condition of the wood of the structure that you want to clean.
Why?
Because the success of the cleaning operation depends on the right choice of process: without analysis, there is a risk of making the wrong choice and having to redo everything!
How to conduct the analysis?
- If the wood is gray and tarnished: in general, it has remained weathered, without previous protection, it has undergone the “water + UV + pollution” aging cycle, it must be sobered up to restore its shine.
NB: the effectiveness of the gray remover implies that the support does not have any film on the surface otherwise its action would give no result, in this case, it is necessary to remove oil or strip.
- If the wood is blackened: it is clogged with greasy dirt encrusted in the fibers and only the action of an oil remover will succeed in overcoming the oils clogged with UV rays which clog the pores of the wood. The oil separator breaks down and dissolves the oils and everything is rinsed away.
- If the wood is covered with an old film-forming finish: it must be completely rid of it, the only effective action is then stripping.
In summary: we sober up dirty wood, we remove oil from dirty wood, we strip wood smothered by an old finish.
Tips: in the presence of an old protection of unknown origin very impregnated, we will always choose to strip to correctly recover the appearance of the wood.
The Durieu group, offers in its OWATROL range a perfect trio to clean all types of wood: the NET-TROL oil remover, the AQUANETT oil remover and the DILUNETT stripper.
- NET-TROL or how to sober up in 15 minutes flat: Net-Trol acts almost instantaneously thanks to its gel formula and its ultra-wetting power. In 15 minutes the support is clean:
- Humidification of the support / Application / 15 min of exposure / Rinsing / Revival of the support.
NB: this sober also removes drippings and traces of tannin on certain woods (eg Red Cedar).
Note: new enriched formula coming soon.
- AQUANETT or how to remove oil from blackened wood: Aquanett also acts very quickly thanks to its gel formula and its excellent wetting power which allows it to penetrate the wood to dissolve grease.
NB: you must always neutralize a support with Net-trol after using Aquanett.
- DILUNETT or how to strip up to 8 layers of paint or stain: the gel formulation of Dilunett and its extreme wetting power allow it to remove all old layers of paint or varnish and remove stubborn stains.
The plus: solvent-free, Dilunett does not dry out and remains active for a long time, which guarantees the total elimination of the various coatings.
NB: you must always neutralize a support with Net-trol after using Dilunett.
Zoom: the range of Owatrol cleaners in action
De-oiled city terrace at the AQUANETT:
On this city terrace in Red Cedar, subject to a high rate of pollution coupled with UV, given its southern exposure, it was necessary to clean with the Aquanett oil remover because the dirt was embedded in the wood. After de-oiling, the wood was brightened and stabilized with Net-Trol, lightly sanded and then protected with Textrol saturator.
Palisade stripped with DILUNETT:
This palisade had been covered for 5 years with an old varnish supposed to be a “natural cedar” finish. The owners who were not satisfied with the aging of the finish, which had become too orange, chose to change and opt for the Textrol saturator, Owatrol range, special Red Cedar. Before that, it was necessary to strip the support in order to find the original light color. After the work of the Dilunett, the cleaning of the wood was finalized with the action of the Net-Trol which gave it back its original color, followed by a light sanding.
Facade de-oiled with DILUNETT:
This facade was cleaned with Dilunett after remaining in place for 6 years with protection against the effects of water (hydrophobic) allowing it to age under UV without being damaged. Owners tired of the gray appearance decided to return to wood and its original color. The old product applied being impregnated in the wood, the cladding was stripped with Dilunett, then stabilized and cleared with Net-trol, followed by a light sanding before the application of Aquadecks honey.
Beautify and make wood last: cleaning stage: sobering up, de-oiling, stripping, 3 situations and 3 OWATROL solutions to guarantee a long-lasting structure.