In this article, more than a craft or a DIY job as such, we will deal with a more light DIY theme, but not for that, less useful and very necessary. It is about the maintenance of outdoor wood. We will see what are the most used species of wood, what is the maintenance of wood for exteriors, what are the best treatments, and how to carry them out.
The maintenance treatment is common to all the most used elements in exterior carpentry, such as furniture, floors and wooden floors, pergolas, doors, windows and any other decorative and constructive element.
Therefore, if you have any of the indicated elements, you should continue reading this article, since it will be of help to you. On the contrary, if you are thinking of purchasing or installing one, but you are undecided on the type of material, at BricoBlog we recommend, without a doubt, wood. Although it is true that we are unconditional FANS of this material, therefore, our advice may not be entirely objective. For this reason, we will try to condense in this article all our knowledge on the subject at hand and, thus, you can decide for yourself the most suitable option that best suits your needs.
Before continuing, I would like to clarify that the maintenance of wood is simpler, if possible, than that of other materials, such as iron, for example. BEWARE, I am not saying that one is better or worse than the other, each one has its advantages and disadvantages, but what is certain is that well-worked wood provides great beauty, style and warmth.
Well, let me disperse, as I was saying, in the case of iron, from time to time, you have to remove the rust and oxide from the most affected parts, sand and/or clean the entire surface well, give an anti-corrosion treatment, leave dry, and give the coat of paint.
As you will see throughout this article and in the video below, wood maintenance is much simpler.
VIDEO Exterior Wood Maintenance
Spanish version of the video
English version of the video
Introduction Exterior Wood
By way of introduction, we will begin by briefly talking about exterior woods. The most used for the indicated use are tropical species, such as ipé, iroko, and teak wood, among others.
The reason why these species are used and not others, is their great resistance to climatological agents, attacks by fungi and insects, as well as their natural durability.
However, no matter how durable a wood is, certain factors must be taken into account that will gradually degrade its properties. Here are the two main ones, in our opinion:
- On the one hand, there are the attacks of fungi and xylophagous insects that normally appear more quickly and abundantly in wood that is continuously in contact with humidity and water.
- And on the other, weather agents. Here I am not only referring to the rain, but mainly to the sun. On the one hand, solar radiation causes a superficial discoloration of the wood. And on the other hand, UV rays remove lignin from the cell walls, causing the destruction of the wood fibers, and therefore causing a deterioration of its mechanical properties.
Depending on the geographical area, solar radiation can be very damaging to wood.
Normally, the wood that comes ready to be installed, as well as the outdoor furniture, already incorporates a treatment, whose application is carried out by means of a vacuum-vacuum or vacuum-pressure autoclave. It is an industrial process that makes it possible for the protection to penetrate deep into the wood.
Even so, we must be careful to periodically apply a preventive treatment to the wood. Once a year is advisable, and may vary depending on the exposure of the wood and the geographical area.
Preparing the area for the application
Well, the first thing we must do is clean the surface that we are going to treat. If we have a pressure washer, better than better. Otherwise, no problem, with a normal hose and a root brush, it is more than enough.
Cleaning will be done without applying any type of product, simply with water. Still, you’ll be surprised how much dirt you’re going to rip off. In the video that we have included above, you can see it clearly.
Once the cleaning is finished, let it dry completely. Depending on the weather, one or two days may be enough.
Choice of the most suitable productOnce the flooring or the element to be treated has been cleaned and dried, we are ready to apply the preventive treatment by carrying out the maintenance of the exterior wood.
The traditional way that has been used is the application of teak oil or linseed oil. However, other types of more complete products have now prevailed since, in addition to hydrating the wood as those do, they also provide protection against solar radiation.
For this reason, we will use a protective lasur for tropical woods, which our friends at Pyma, specialists in this type of product, have recommended.
As we said before, this lasur, in addition to deeply hydrating the wood, protects it from harmful UV rays.
Applying preventive treatment
The method of use is very simple, since it is identical to painting a wall, for example.
Therefore, the first thing we should do is protect any area that we could accidentally stain. We will do this with taped protective paper, which is very easy to use.
Then we continue with the typical… We stir the product well, pour it into the bucket of paint, which we will fill as needed, and begin to apply the product.
This stain can be applied by brush, roller or spray. In our case we will do it mainly with a roller, since it covers more surface and more quickly. Although we have also had to use the brush. However, in each specific case it will be necessary to see which is the most suitable mode of use.
Something more entertaining has been the meetings since we have had to do it with the brush.
And in the areas where we have not reached with the roller, we have also resorted to the brush.
In case of finding cracks like the one that appears in the video, we will apply the product abundantly on them, and thus we will take advantage of the occasion so that the lasur penetrates deeply.
For optimum protection of the wood, it is recommended to apply two coats, leaving the drying time indicated by the manufacturer between them.
Well, the maintenance of the exterior wood is finished. With a little hydration, the wood has regained all its vitality and beauty.
Now we just have to let the wood absorb all the product, remove the protective paper, and that’s it. We already have our floor or outdoor furniture like new.
Outdoor platform photo gallery
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