As an island in the Atlantic we gain year round sun and warmth, which is great for our tans but bad on our wood. We know wood is not something that’s on the mind that often (and so it shouldn’t) but with some foresight you can save yourself a lot of headaches in the long run.
Choosing a material that works well in various climates is paramount when starting a project. You want a piece’s natural beauty to last through anything.
Accoya wood has superior resistance to UV degradation, with extensive tests demonstrating that the natural beauty of the wood lasts longer in even the severest exposed conditions. UV resistance of wood improves the life of any coating by providing a sound coating substrate. It also allows a wider range of feasible color options. For example, very light pastel colored stains and clear coatings can be safely used because Accoya will not darken quickly and ruin the effect as most other woods do.
The second step is ensuring your protective coatings last. Accoya works well with all known coatings systems, primarily due to its outstanding dimensional and UV stability.
With Accoya wood, swelling and shrinkage is reduced by 70-80% and the resultant more stable surface allows coatings to adhere better. Dimensionally stable wood improves coatings life as paints and other film-forming coatings are not subjected to severe stretch and shrink cycles. In the end, the result is decreased maintenance frequency, resulting in:
– Less time spent maintaining the wood
– Less money spent on coatings
– Less coating used overall during the service life of the wood
– Less impact on the environment
Perfect for Coating
Return to Fife
This architect-owned private house near Glenrothes, Fife, used approximately 30m2 Accoya wood profiled facade cladding and was completed in July 2006. The cladding was factory coated with translucent Sikkens Natural Balance coating system giving a smooth contemporary finish. After 6 years, the cladding shows no sign of decay, despite the property’s far northern latitude and 10km proximity to the sea. The coating continues to perform well, with no blistering or cracks. The slightly dirty appearance of the cladding is due to tree sap from surrounding trees but the owner reports that this is simply and easily washed off.
Tweedbank revisited
Twenty one energy efficient homes featuring windows and doors clad in Accoya wood were completed for Eildon Housing Association at Tweedbank in the Scottish Borders area in 2007. Eildon chose Accoya wood after analysis of the product’s aesthetic and durable qualities. More than 11,000 linear metres was used, finished with a Sikkens coating by Environmental Coatings. After more than 3 years in situ, there are no signs of rot, decay cracking or blistering as is common in this challenging environment and colour retention is excellent.
In the shade
Accoya wood was used as part of a bespoke solar shading system by Levolux in this Scottish Widows office in Edinburgh, Scotland. 1,060 wood fins were used in combination with glass fins and Matrix XL Brise Soleil.
Levolux was able to offer a 10 year warranty for the finish and a 60 year life expectancy and over 2 years later the fins look and perform as new, despite the challenges encountered in this type of thin profile, fully exposed application.
