Educating building owners and occupants about proper wood maintenance practices will go a long way to prolong the lifespan of new or renovated wood, explains Barrettine
Before any renovation work begins, it’s crucial to prepare the wood surface properly. This may involve cleaning the wood to remove dirt, grime, and old finishes using appropriate cleaners and paint removers. Once renovated and prepared a few options are available, depending on the client’s preference.
Choose finishes that are suitable for the wood type and the intended use of the new or renovated timber. If a paint style finish or top coat is needed, additional preservation is required. This can be added with Barrettine’s Clear, Universal ‘Primer’ Preserver formulated to allow over painting whilst ensuring all the preservation properties from fungal attack and decay. If the client is looking for a more natural look where the grain is still visible, Barrettine’s Premier Wood Preserver or Wood Protective treatments would make a good fit. Their translucent colour finishes provide protection from weathering/sunlight, and as an oil they both penetrate deeply into the wood and provide excellent water shedding, giving long lasting protection.
Wood preserver’s are great for protecting untreated timber from woodworm, insect attack and fungal decay as well as against general weathering. Wood protective treatments are often used on pre-treated timbers and provide excellent additional protection against the elements. It’s also good to note while pressure-treated timbers reduce the need for immediate maintenance, they’re not maintenance free and also don’t prevent water penetration. Wood Protectors are also at a better price point if there isn’t a need to add more preserver products on already treated timber.
“Armourflex UV Oil is easy to apply, adds a very nice warm tone and keeps the wood looking healthy all year round.”
– Frank Tower Joinery, Yate, Bristol
Specific uses
Barrettine’s Premier Wood care range also includes decking treatments, and all are oil based for maximum penetration. The All-in-One Decking Oil offers protection by repelling water, UV-rays and preventing mould. The non-flaking, translucent finish can be used on deck boards, deck tiles, balustrades and is offered in six natural shades. To compliment this, an additional anti-slip decking oil is a great follow-on product for surfaces that can become wet and dirty. Applied as a top coat, the product improves grip on decking, handrails and wooden steps. It also contains a UV stabiliser which helps slow discolouration and provides further protection against water, mould and fungus on particularly slippery surfaces.
Oils & stains, particularly for decking, are becoming more popular than decking paints as they do not flake/peel and are very easy to maintain, as additional coats can easily be applied over the top of previous oil/stain treatments.
“Great UV Protection Oil. Better than the Oil I usually use, and a lot cheaper but does the same job.”
– Bulldog Joinery
In recent trends, the use of timber cladding as an external substrate finish is proving more and more popular. This can be seen on modern commercial buildings and hotels all the way through to newly built homes and garden offices. Timbers used on these structures are usually hardwood, which aren’t cheap but bought for their toughness and appearance. In these cases the preservation of the appearance is usually desirable as wooden facades will regress to grey if left unprotected, even for relatively short periods of time. This necessitates the expense of re-cladding and reduces the ecocredentials of the design.
To protect cladding, the timber should firstly be preserved with a Universal ‘primer’ Preserver such as Barrettine’s. This will protect the timber from fungal attack and decay then Armourflex UV Protection Oil the latest high-performance addition to the specialist range, offers an efficient solution to protect these exterior wood facades and vertical surfaces from weathering and turning grey. It is formulated with a careful balance of UV absorbers and antioxidants, designed to capture the damaging UV rays from the sun and dissipate them safely away as heat. This in turn averts greying and hinders swelling, shrinkage, splitting, and warping of wooden surfaces.
With performance-tested resins the product also resists water and dirt, thereby reducing potential discolouration from fungal attack. This gives an overall picture of healthy timber, with an extended service life and reduced maintenance expenses. Armourflex UV Protection Oil isn’t limited to just cladding and offers UV and weathering protection for all high-end timber used in luxury gates, window ledges, hardwood external doors (old & new), even through to quality benches and wooden sculptures. Be sure to check out
this high performing product if any of these applications meet your needs.
About Barrettine
Barrettine are a Bristol-based, UK manufacturer with over 145 years of history and experience, specialising in high-quality protective wood coatings for professionals and consumers alike. All products produced from Barrettine are rigorously performance tested before being released and many if not all are regularly reviewed at 5 Star.
Watch a video on how a selection of Barrettine’s Trade Performance products restored a 15-year old teak bench to its former glory here: Reviving, Preserving and Protecting a 15 Year Old Teak Bench (youtube.com).
For more information on Barrettine click here.
