NUMEROUS SOLUTIONS ON THE MARKET
You have a house, a shelter, a chalet or other building element covered with wooden cladding. Wood is a very aesthetic material, but it requires regular maintenance so that it does not become grey and dull or even blackened over time. Even noble, resistant woods such as Douglas, Larch or Red Cedar need to be preserved. But then, how do you maintain a wooden cladding ? Many products for wooden cladding are available on the market today: saturators, degreasers, stains, insecticides, fungicides... To help you see more clearly, we will explain the role of each product: wood maintenance, wood renovation, wood treatment... Then we will go into practice by explaining how to apply a treatment product for wooden cladding.
WHY MAINTAIN WOODEN CLADDING ?
Wooden cladding is the exterior element most exposed to climatic aggression. Some claddings do not require maintenance, such as wood composite cladding. All you have to do is clean the wooden cladding with a brush, water and black soap such as Liquid Black Soap SN800. For all other woods such as Douglas fir, it is necessary to maintain them regularly. Indeed, if you leave your wood siding untreated, in the long term, under the effect of rain, UV rays, your wood will grey or tarnish. We advise you to maintain your wooden cladding regularly in order to avoid having to renovate it, which is costly and time-consuming. Ideally, a wood siding treatment should be applied every two years or even every year on average. You can judge for yourself when it is the right time to maintain your wooden cladding. When you start to see a grey colour appear or when you see too much visible damage, you need to protect your cladding. There are various products available to treat wood siding :
Maintenance products: Saturators and stains to protect the wood from natural hazards (sun, rain, bad weather, etc.).
Renovation products: Grease removers that brighten up grey woods
Preventive or curative treatments against parasites (woodborers and fungi)
PRODUCTS FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF WOODEN CLADDING
Saturator is the maintenance product for wooden cladding par excellence. Saturators provide protection against the sun's UV rays and humidity. We recommend the Siding Saturator SB600 which is suitable for various woods such as Douglas, Larch, Red Cedar and many others. It stabilises the wood and prevents greying and splitting while maintaining the colour and/or natural appearance of the wood. By choosing saturators, you have the advantage of a product that is easy to apply thanks to its quick drying and does not need to be wiped off. Subsequently you will need to apply them on average every 2 to 5 years depending on the exposure. They are easy to maintain because, as they do not form a film on the surface of the wood, the saturator does not require sanding of the cladding. A simple surface cleaning followed by a new coat of saturator is enough to restore the siding to its original state.
Stain can also be used to protect wooden cladding from UV rays, sun or rain. Stains are best applied to vertical surfaces. You will be at peace a little longer than with a saturator (3 to 6 years on average) but maintenance will be much more complicated with compulsory sanding of the treated facades. This is because wood stains are "film-forming", i.e. they form a film on the surface of the wood. Sanding a stained wood cladding therefore adds a laborious and costly step in the maintenance phase. In this respect, the use of saturator is more interesting in terms of price.
Stains and saturators are used to maintain wooden cladding that has just been laid or after a renovation phase.
Water repellents waterproof the wood to prevent splitting.
PRODUCTS FOR RENOVATING WOODEN CLADDING (GREY CLADDING)
If you did not take care of your wood soon after installation, then it must have become grey or dull. In this case, use a degreaser to renovate a wooden cladding. With the use of a degreaser, you can restore your wood to its natural colour. We recommend the Degreaser DG105 which is suitable for all types of wood. After applying the degreaser, you can use a siding saturator to restore the natural colour of your wood.
TREATMENT OF WOODEN CLADDING AGAINST PARASITES
Most wood siding treatments will be both preventive and curative against woodborers and/or fungi. The fungal properties of your product will attack moulds while the insecticidal properties will eliminate insects. We advise you to use the least toxic products possible. For a preventive treatment, we recommend Wood Bliss. For a curative treatment, we recommend Wood Bliss High-C concentrated insecticide
HOW TO APPLY A PRODUCT FOR WOODEN CLADDING ?
Start by cleaning the wooden cladding by removing the dust. We recommend the Concentrated Wood Cleaner N140 for all wooden cladding.
On old wood cladding, strip and/or sand your wood to start your work if a product film is still present on the surface. On new wood there is no need to sand or strip. Good to know, sanding the old finish allows your maintenance product to adhere more easily.
Apply your cladding maintenance product (degreaser, saturator, stain) to your facade. For stain and stain saturators for cladding, you can apply a primer to enhance the benefits of the products. We recommend, for example, Anti-UV Wood Primer PUV400 for facades that are very exposed to the sun.
Maintain your exterior wood cladding by regularly applying your maintenance product (the frequency of maintenance is indicated in the precautions for use) in order to avoid premature grey and dull ageing and thus keep the beautiful original appearance of your facade.
Products for the maintenance of wooden cladding
Siding Saturator SB600 - Douglas, Larch, Red Cedar & Other Woods
