SUPPORT & Help

Properties Of Wood

Understanding that wood is a natural product and may swell or shrink, the dimensions specified on this website may differ slightly from those of the supplied product.

WARPING OF WOOD

Wood smells when it absorbs moisture and shrinks when it is released. The occurrence of cracks and distortions in the wood an entirely natural consequence of this.

Cracks through drying out occur more frequently in trunks (palissades). The cracks do not affect the stability or durability of the wood, and can, depending on the weather, heal almost entirely. According to DIN 4074, cracks are permitted as long as they do not adversely affect the durability.

COLOUR

Wood is not plastic. The individual form, colour and grain creates a natural play of colours on the wood after it has been processed.

Because wood varies in density, colour pigments are not evenly absorbed during wood impregnation under boiler pressure, creating a different colour intensity that usually changes over time under the effects of the weather.

RESIN

Resin on a softwood surface is entirely normal. It is unavoidable even. 

During the first year after processing, wood can secrete a certain amount of resin. These spots can be removed with white spirits. When resin has come to the surface it usually quickly becomes brittle. As a result, it spontaneously fall off. If can also be removed using a plane.

PITH

Pith can be found in the heart of the tree.

It differs from the surrounding wood: the colour is darker and it has a different structure. After the wood has been processed this can be fully or partially visible. This property is part of the natural look of the wood. It is sometimes confused with wood rot.

KNOTS AND FLAMES

These are characteristic for wood and give each wood type a different appearance.

Knots form part of the natural appearance of the wood and vary in size and number in the wood. Despite careful quality inspections, knots sometimes fall out in dry weather. This can never be completely avoided and does not mean deterioration in quality.

ROUGH SPOTS AND EDGES

Even with the greatest of care during the production process, rough spots and plane marks cannot always be avoided.

Rough spots can occur, particularly in the areas where branches form and the wood fibres that run contrary to the processing direction. In the case of cross cuts and end finishes small fibre cracks are possible as a result of processing diagonally on the wood fibre.

SALT FORMATION

Impregnated wood can appear to have salt formation on the outside. This is actually resin the turns yellow/green when the wood is impregnated. These spots disappear after a white.

PINHOLES

These are caused by small wood-eating insects. All such insects are eliminated before the wood is processed into the final product. This has nothing at all to do with wood worm.

FUNGI AND BRUISES

Wood impregnated under boiler pressure become very moist, due to which wood can be affected by mildew and fungi, especially in the summer season.

They disappear over time and can easily be removed by hand. The fungi no effect on the quality and strength of the wood, the quality and the strength of the wood. You can remove light fungus using vinegar or alcohol. Spray, leave for 30 minutes then wash off. Badly affected areas can be removed using household cleaner that contains chlorine (for example DanKlorix).

GUM

Hardwood contains gum.

This is a brown substance that is released from the wood due to rain and heat. It can discolour surrounding parts.

SWELLING AND FLUCTUATIONS / DIMENSIONAL DIFFERENCES

A typical wood property is the change in volume through moisture absorption or drying out.

This can change the thickness and width of the wood considerably – the length only slightly. By introducing the protective impregnation solution, our wood impregnated under boiler pressure is delivered with high wood moisture. Depending on the weather – sun or rain – the moisture escapes either quickly or slowly. Wood swells or shrinks, as a response to either absorbing or losing moisture. Tolerances in wood dimensions are therefore natural and not a defect. Because wood is a natural product and may swell or shrink, the dimensions specified on this website may differ slightly from those of the supplied product.

SPECIFIC PROPERTIES OF LARCH / DOUGLAS WOOD

Fine sawn larch/douglas has a high moisture content.

During storage and processing, this moisture can lead to the development of fungus in the wood. In the Netherlands, Tuindeco treats all its freshly sawn Larch/Douglas with an anti-fungus / anti-bruise agent that helps to avoid this as much as possible. It is unfortunately not possible to stop this completely. If you buy or build an attractive Larch/Douglas project or construction made from freshly sawn wood, please take into account that the wood will shrink by at least 4% after processing. This means that carefully put together and well-finished structures may appear less attractive over time. To prevent this from happening, we advise the use of artificially dried Larch/Douglas.

Shopping Basket