How can we protect our outdoor wooden structures long term? - Research

How can we protect our outdoor wooden structures long term?

projectkamp

With contributions from

davehakkens

matecseh

Started 4y. Edited 1yStarted about 4 years ago. Last edit about 1 year ago

Construction

In Progress

The upcoming years we want to use wood as one of our main building materials. In this research topic we try to find out what is the best way of protecting wood long term against weather influences.

More Information

4211

1 Collect a list of wood protectors

Published 4y. Edited 4yPublished about 4 years ago. Last edit about 4 years ago

The first step is to find different ways to protect wood. For this first research we will test eight different ones. Ideally it would be a biobased or leftover product. A lot of people advised us to use engine oil for protection. We like the idea of it being a waste product, but it contains a lot of toxins. So we try it for the sake of research but it wouldn’t be our first choice. For the first trial we will test these products: 1 No product/ protection 2 Wax from old candles 3 Raw linseed oil (2 layers) 4 Boiled linseed oil (2 layers) 5 Bondex (2 layers) 6 Old engine oil (2 layers) 7 Burned techique (Shou Sugi Ban) 8 Teak Oil

2 Treatment of the woods

Published 4y. Edited 4yPublished about 4 years ago. Last edit about 4 years ago

For this experiment we used five types of wood that are often used in this area of Portugal. - Eucalyptus - Poplar - Red Cedar - Pine - Pine Multiplex In the YouTube video you can see exactly how we gave the different treatments (9:58)

3 The Board

Published 4y. Edited 4yPublished about 4 years ago. Last edit about 4 years ago

After giving all the treatments, we placed the board next to the workshop container, so it will get lots of sun in summer and rain in winter. Let's see what happens!

4 Start. Let's see what happens....

Published 4y. Edited 3yPublished about 4 years ago. Last edit over 3 years ago

In the photo's below you can see clearly the five types of wood just after we gave them the first treatments. 1 Eucalytus 2 Poplar 3 Red Cedar 4 Pine 5 Multiplex (Pine) It will be interesting to see how the wood will behave in the next couple of months. This will give us hopefully a lot more information about what types of wood we could use best for our project and how to protect them. See you in a few months.

5 5 Months later

Published 3y. Edited 3yPublished over 3 years ago. Last edit over 3 years ago

Here is an update 5 months later. Few observations: - Multiplex has the biggest change - Red cedar and pine have the smallest change - Old Candle Wax and Teak oil seem least protective - The black ones still look awesome - Bondex looks stable Lets see in another few months!

6 Year Later - Non treated wood better?

davehakkens

Published 3y. Edited 3yPublished about 3 years ago. Last edit about 3 years ago

After about a year we had a look again at the board. The wood still seems in good condition, but visually it looks pretty worn out. Usually it also gets a bit more intense in winter when its wet. One of the main things we noticed is that the untreated wood actually looks pretty good. It didn't change much compare to the others. The ones with a layer of linseed oil seems to get much more mouldy. So we had a look at our own structures and how they behaved. The structures in Basekamp are made from Red Cedar. They are covered by a roof and also coated with linseed oil, its a lot of work but they should be well protected. However we noticed they also get quite mouldy in winter. And last year Frank made a little random sign in the garden. Same Red Cedar wood. But untreated and fully exposed in the rain. And this thing looks much better than the treated wood we have underneath our roof. We don't know why this is the case. Also this is just a visual indication, we are not sure if the wood is actually stronger and in better condition. So we will continue to observe and see how it behaves in the long term. (ps: Old engine oil still looks solid.)

7 Yoga decks - 1 year later

matecseh

Published 2y. Edited 2yPublished almost 3 years ago. Last edit almost 3 years ago

Last year we built three yoga decks on our land. 1 year later we are here to follow up on how they are doing. All decks are exposed all year long to nature, providing us useful observations. Red Cedar - This deck is next to the creek, meaning a lot of humid air. No real damage shown, it is still in a really good state. No cracks, no mould whatsoever. Pine - This one is on the top of the land, probably the most exposed to sun and rain. Little cracks have shown up, but definitely less than on the Eucalyptus one. While the top is mouldless, the under part of the wood is getting mouldy, thanks to the dark. Eucalyptus - This one is most protected by trees around, providing some shade, although not much. No sign of mould, but cracks have appeared, the wood does not tolerate the expands and contractions well. It is still very much enjoyable nevertheless.

8 Office stairs - 1 year later

matecseh

Published 2yPublished almost 3 years ago

Last year we renovated the sketchy ruin into an office. As part of the work, we built stairs and for the base of the stairs we used burning for wood protection. We used the burning coating technique on red cedar. The wood seems to be holding up excellently. There are no cracks and there is no mould either, even though it is exposed to the rain and the sun without any protection and is in daily use - we use the ruin as the office. All in all nice combination, sturdy and reliable, optimal for our needs

9 Pick-up wooden frame - 3 months later

matecseh

Published 2yPublished almost 3 years ago

At the beginning of the season we fixed up an old pick up. For the wooden frame under the storage space, we built a wooden frame using red cedar, which was coated with old motor oil for wood protection. The pick up has been used almost daily since, going through rougher roads and standing in the open, being exposed to the rain, while it is mostly protected from the sun. The condition of the wooden beams seems to be optimal, there are no cracks or mold as far as we can tell, although most if it is covered and is not visible for us.

10 2 years later

davehakkens

Published 1y. Edited 1yPublished almost 2 years ago. Last edit almost 2 years ago

Here an update of the board 2 years later. The OSB board underneath is almost falling apart but still holding up. Overal conclusion, its not easy for wood to be in the rain and sun all day without a roof. Make roofs! (: Images 1. overview of the board 2. closeup on the names, many faded away. So scroll back up if you need the originalreference 3. the coating seems the have a large effect. the type of wood underneath less 4. car oil and burned coating are still holding up well. 5. I guess we already knew. But its confirmed, multiplex outside. Bad idea.

11 3 Years later

davehakkens

Published 1yPublished about 1 year ago

Here some updates on what it looks like now. We should have picked one of those colorful pig trailer trespa boards as a background. Its wearing out 🫣

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