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+-- Thread: Importance of wood preservation (/showthread.php?tid=7330114)
Importance of wood preservation - dattashri - 05-10-2017
The term wood preservatives defines that the preservation is the process of
preserving from the destroying agents like insects or fungus so that the life
span of the wood can be extended.
It refers to the treatment of timber with chemicals to impart resistance to
degradation and deterioration by living organisms. The proper application of
chemical preservatives can protect from decay, and stain fungi, insects and
marine borers, thus prolonging the service life for many years.
The material contents cellulose, hemicelluloses, starches and other
susceptible materials that attract the fungi and insects to be degraded and
eaten. After the preservative treatments, the fungi and insects cannot
decompose and feed on these substances, hence the durability of wood is to
be increased.
Everybody is well aware that furniture is prone to attacks by insects and
environmental factors such as moist, mildews decay etc. This is a fact and
no need to discuss more about it.
Everybody is also well aware that use of finest quality preservative increases
the life and structural strength of wood greatly.
One thing must be remembered that preservative must contain sporicides,
fungicide, termicides and miticides. Must be environmental friendly and safe
to human and cattle and birds. Also one has to offer many formulations
according to specific species of wood/timber.
There are many enemies of wood. Some of them are listed below.
Termites: Queen lives in ground up to 20 feet deep. Workers tunnel to
surface under a piece of wood and start eating it.
If they can't reach wood from ground, they build tubes of dirt up to the
wood. Some tubes are self-supporting and reach up to 2 feet. Others are
attached to other structure such as block wall and have been known to go up
8 feet to reach wood.
Termites never work in the open. Always in wood or tubes.
There are only two types of homes in the world those with termites and
those that are going to get termites.
Borers: Borers is the great enemy of wood and generates great damage to
wood. Wood Borer adults are 3/4 inch in size, long horned brown to black in
color. Beetles larvae is whitish and produce tunnels in wood. Larvae stage is
more destructive. Borers feed on both soft and hard wood. Adult beetles lay
eggs in crevices of wood. When, larvae hatch tunnels inward, adults break
through the surface leaving tiny round or oval shape pin holes.
Adults lays eggs in open pores of wood. Larvae eat causing honeycomb.
After pupating and becoming adults, they bore out of the panels leaving
behind small holes and a pile of powder or "sawdust".
Fungi: A decay fungus is a variety of fungus which has the ability to digest
wood, causing it to rot. Decay fungi include those which attack dead wood,
such as dry rot, and those which are parasitic on living trees, such as
Armilariahoney fungus. Fungi that not only grow but actually cause it to
decay are called lignicolous fungi. They do not necessarily need to decay
lignin but be termed lignicolous. Dry rot fungi decay cellulose in wood
leaving behind the lignin as the brown crumbly remains.
RE: Importance of wood preservation - daddo - 05-10-2017
"Dry Rot"- a big misnomer. I can't imagine why we still use the term.
RE: Importance of wood preservation - gMike - 05-10-2017
This is Spam