Waterproofing Of Timber Structures

Author: Matthew Lavitov

Many home owners who have ancestral properties or are building their home from scratch, they might want to take proper care of the wooden structures that exist in their houses or buildings. Most olden homes have wooden fixtures in many places. The wooden frames and structures that are on the outside are usually exposed to external weather conditions. As a result, these wooden structures need proper care and maintenance. They need to be protected from rot as well as from cracking up or warping.

If you leave wooden structures untreated, they usually soak up water, either from rain or from the air in the atmosphere. For that reason the wood, usually expands. When the wood dries up it contracts. When wood is unpolished or untreated at such a stage, they end up being cracked or warped. Even if wooden structures are painted or treated, such treatments tend to wash off or fade in time. As a result, you need to refresh treatment for wooden structures after an interval of a few years. Again, wood also gets affected by algae, mildew and mold. This can discolor or damage the wood. As a result, wooden door maintenance needs to be done to prevent such adverse effects from setting in.

When it comes to wooden door maintenance you would be looking to make wooden structures waterproof, especially those parts that lie exposed to external weather conditions. Sealants are a good solution in such cases. If you are unsure whether the waterproofing has faded away, you could throw water on the wood and check if the water drains off or stays on or gets into cracks. In this way you can determine which wooden structures in your home need waterproofing. There are different kinds of waterproofing products available in the market. Some act as waterproof membranes while others provide a surface barrier on the wood. In other cases the sealant will fill in pores and any cracks or crevices that might exist in wood. Certain products are an oil based product that helps repel water from the surface of wooden structures. In other cases polymers and resins are present in the solvent. These evaporate and leave behind a waterproofing material when solidified. Epoxy resin is another common product which is solvent based. This comes with a curing agent as well as resin. Both need to be mixed in right proportions before use. When you are using such a product you need to check the curing time. In certain cases the resin cures quickly and that might spoil the effort as it hardens before it is properly applied to the wooden structures. This might be required when you are attempting garage door treatments.

In case you are looking to get wooden structures in your home made waterproof, you could seek professional services. There are timber specialists who can conduct garage door treatments as well as maintain wooden structures in your home as required.

This article is about the uses and benefits of treated wood or lumber. The author talks about the different garage door treatments methods here.