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Prolonging the

Life of Wood

 

 

 

    

  

  Explore Your Options

  When It Comes to

  Rotted Bases and Columns

 

 Prelude

 Without prejudice and expressed for your benefit.

 Here are a few tips on prolonging the life of  your wood product for exterior use. All responsibility resides with your installer.  Wood is a natural product that does rot over time, but with these notes you should get more life out of your wood products

 

 

 

 Hardwood: a material examination

Imperial Productions & Distribution Inc. sells wood specific for exterior applications.  These woods are Western Red Cedar, White Pine, White Oak. You cannot use "white wood" or poplar outside. 

 

All turned or carved wood is made from multiple staves glued together. For exterior applications exterior wood glue is used. This is traditional way of making turned or carved wood elements for over 200 years to enhance the strength of the product. The wood staves are kiln dried as per NHLA Standards to 6 to 8% moisture content, whereas solid wood will crack due to it's thickness and exceeding moisture levels compared to kiln dried pieces. 

 

The wood staves disburses static and fixed loads evenly. Any uneven substrate will put pressure on any wood product regardless of it being made from wood staves or solid wood. 

 

When you get your new exterior wood base or column the following are   recommendations for your consideration.  

 

If your wood bases or columns are sitting on concrete make sure that there is poly (like you would use for vapor barrier) between the concrete and the wood, as concrete creates a chemical reaction with wood which will degrade it faster.   Concrete is alkaline and eats away at wood.  The wood constantly tries to absorb the lime water from the concrete

 

 

 

 

 Step 1:  Preservative Treatment

 Clean all surfaces well before Treating the wood on all sides with a clear wood preservative.  

 Give them 3 coats allowing them to dry between coats.

 Always follow the manufacturer's instructions for application, storage and

 disposal of brushes and rags.  

  This is available on line or in many big box stores.

 

  USA:  Wolman Woodlife Classic

  Canada: Recochem Clear Wood Preservative

 

 

 

 Step 2:  Priming before painting

 Clean all surface well before priming

 Once the clear preservative is dry,

 prime the wood on all sides with 2 coats of exterior primer

 

 

 

 Step 3:  Painting

 Paint with a high quality exterior paint 2 times allowing

 24 hours to dry between applications

 

 

 Step 4:  Caulking

  Once installed use a paint able Silicone (make sure it is paintable) to seal

  any gaps or holes so that water is kept out.

 

 

   

 Step 5:  Installing Tips

  The new wood base will carry load from the column shaft, both fixed load and the additional static load from snow and ice. Always seek the advice of a local structural engineer for load requirements when removing the old base and installing the new base.

 

To prevent lateral movement use construction adhesive to glue to new base to the column shaft and substrate. 

 

If the new wood base sits on a concrete plinth place a piece of poly between the wood base and the concrete to create a barrier between the wood (an acid) and the concrete (an alkaline). The wood will always try to absorb the lime water from the concrete which will over time react with the wood degrading it. 

 

If the new wood base sits on a wood deck and you want to screw it to the deck drill pilot and clearance holes before screwing it in place.

 

The supporting concrete plinth or wood deck must be even and plumb to make sure the wood base has an even footing disbursing the load evenly amongst each stave of the wood base plinth.  Concrete plinths must sit on suitable footings and be even so that the new base does not crack.  

 

 

 

 

 

  How to Order Products  1-800-399-7585     416-264-6096  

  email: sales@imperialproductions.com

            click here for trade registry program

  * All Prices & specifications in this website subject to change without notice

  * Prices are net, Freight, Taxes & Duties charged where applicable otherwise client is responsible for remittance

  * Measurements are approximate only, Final Product may vary from this website

   COPYRIGHT  MRDCI Martin Richards Design and Contracting Inc, Martin Richards DesignTM 

     and Imperial Productions®                                                        Feb 2018  all rights reserved

   Last Update JUL-20