Timber solutions
Timber is one of the world’s most versatile and stunning natural resources. Each species possesses its own specific texture, colour, grain and growth pattern, with further variations found across species when grown in different countries and climates. As with any natural resource, timber comes with its own host of challenges and as a company in the business of overcoming challenges, CUTEK® offers solutions to many of these.
What is your biggest concern?
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Warping, cupping and splitting
Timber is prone to warping, cupping and splitting which is primarily caused by uneven changes of moisture content in the wood.
Warping occurs when different parts of a wood piece absorb or lose moisture unevenly, leading to distortions like bowing or twisting.
Cupping happens when there’s a moisture content disparity between the top and bottom surfaces of the timber, causing it to bend into a cup-like shape.
Splitting is often due to rapid drying, where the outer layers shrink faster than the inner ones, creating internal tension that results in cracks or splits.
Wood is hygroscopic, and can absorb water as a liquid, if in contact with it, or in the form of vapour from the surrounding atmosphere.
Moisture can be present due to rainfall, humidity, dew, snow, to name a few.
To minimise the effects of moisture within timber, CUTEK® timber oils diffuse deep into the wood to actively displace and protect against moisture from the inside out. It is important to understand that it is the free exchange of liquid and gas phase moisture between wood and the environment that contributes to splitting, warping and cupping.
Please note, timber must be completely dry, with a moisture percentage of 17% or less, prior to being coated with CUTEK® oils.
- Dimensional stability // Keeping timber straight
- Easy maintenance
- Keeping timber clean and beautiful
- Colour retention
- Wood Restoration
- Fungal decay, termite and rot protection
As a natural resource, timber can be affected by its environment, especially moisture, which can affect its dimensional stability.
Timber is often used as a feature in residential and commercial builds where heavy foot-traffic occurs. To make matters more difficult, timber is a porous material which means that when it has been coated, the coating can be difficult to maintain.
As a stunning yet functional feature exposed to a variety of elements, timber will periodically need to be cleaned to be shown at its best.
Timber is naturally beautiful with stunning colours and grain features, but in a bid to protect timber from extreme environments, these features can soon disappear behind coatings. Similarly, exposure to UV rays can quickly lighten and silver timber, regardless of clear oil being applied. At CUTEK®, we want to highlight and retain timber’s natural beauty.
While some resources are single use only, timber can be reclaaimed, restored, revived, and made into something new with a little bit of help.
Fungi and termites are one of the most difficult timber challenges to combat, but coating timber with a protective oil can help to mitigate the effect.