To defeat enemies, you need to know them.
For us, wood has no secrets.
Natural enemies of wood
The 4 main causes of deterioration are:
Humidity
Dry wood absorbs water found in humid air. In fact, when humidity varies, wood can vary in dimension by more than 4%. For example, external windows “move” continuously as atmospheric humidity varies daily. Consequently, whereas a wood support “moves” considerably as changes in humidity occur, the coating film covering it may accompany it much less. This causes much stress between the wood and the coating film, which, over time, may cause the coating film to detach from the wood, or lead to small cracks that then cause the coating film to detach from the wood support.
Temperature changes
Since the thermal expansion coefficient of wood is very low and the thermal expansion coefficient of the most commonly used coatings is very high, this difference in dilation causes stress in opposite directions with each temperature change. As temperature changes are frequent, continuous stress soon breaks down the layer of coating.
Exposure to bad weather
Alternating seasons and atmospheric events, also intense, can deteriorate the surface layer of all coatings. Hence, it is necessary to carry out regular maintenance, using the best type of coatings for application requirements
Biological degradation
Wood is subject to attack by various organisms, such as bacteria, chromogenic fungi, rot fungi and animal organisms such of the Coleoptera order including woodworm and termites