Cumaru wood is an exotic wood species. These characteristics mean that this wood is often used outdoors, particularly for building beautiful wooden terraces. The issue of cumaru maintenance is often important for owners of cumaru decks. We will discuss the importance of this maintenance and explain how to maintain a cumaru terrace and whether this maintenance is necessary..
WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF CUMARU WOOD ?
Cumaru is an exotic wood species from South America. The exotic wood cumaru has many colour variations. It can have a light brown colour or a more reddish brown colour. Its veining can be darker in places.
This class 4 wood is rot-proof. It is protected from external aggressions such as mould or xylophagous insects for a fairly long period of time, around 20 years on average. Rot-proof wood such as cumaru does not rot. These resistant properties are quite similar to those of ipé, but cumaru is distinguished by its price, which remains lower.
Due to its high strength, this wood species is widely used for outdoor use, for example in the construction of cumaru decks. Its grain varies from one cumaru to another. Thus, no two terraces made of this wood species will be identical.
The exotic wood cumaru exists in two variations which implies a different resistance :
Black cumaru also called cumaru ferro. It is the variant that will have the darkest colour and will be the most resistant.
The pink cumaru also called cumaru rosa will have a lighter colour close to a yellow-brown. This type of cumaru will be less resistant than the cumaro ferro. However, it is still rot-proof, and will still be very suitable for an outdoor cumaru terrace.
IS IT NECESSARY TO PROTECT YOUR CUMARU TERRACE ?
The protection of a cumaru terrace is not necessary. Due to its high resistance, there is no need to treat the wood against fungi or insects.
Cumaru is aged over time and is natural. Under the effect of repeated exposure to UV rays and bad weather, cumaru, like all wood species, will tarnish. If this aspect does not bother you, the maintenance of a cumaru terrace will be limited to cleaning with water and black soap such as Liquid Black Soap SN800, about once a year. This will preserve the state of your grey cumaru.
On the other hand, if you wish to avoid this grey, dull, sometimes uneven appearance, you must maintain your cumaru terrace. We advise you to apply a cumaru wood saturator such as Exotic Wood Saturator SBE600. It is best to wait 3 weeks of exposure before protecting your cumaru wood deck. This delay will allow the pores of the cumaru wood to open which will facilitate the impregnation of the saturator within your exotic wood. The saturator for cumaru can be applied in very simple layers. Afterwards, for the maintenance of your cumaru deck, you will need to apply a new coat of saturator when you find that your wood becomes dull again.
We do not recommend the application of an oil for a cumaru terrace. Indeed, oils have the disadvantage of darkening the wood. As cumaru is naturally quite dark, oil could make your wood too dark.
WHAT TO DO IF YOUR CUMARU TERRACE HAS ALREADY GONE GREY ?
f by the time you read this article, your terrace is grey, don't worry, it's not too late. You can regain the natural colour of your aged cumaru deck by degreasing your deck before applying a saturator. For this, we recommend the Degreaser DG105. This product can be applied on wood that has turned grey due to UV and weathering. Degrease a cumaru terrace is very simple, simply apply the degreaser to the terrace with a brush, spalter or roller, leave for about 30 minutes and then rinse with plenty of water.
After applying the wood degreaser, you can apply your cumaru deck saturator and you will recover the natural colour of your wood. To keep exactly the same appearance, you can choose a colourless cumaru saturator such as Exotic Wood Saturator SBE600 which is available in a colourless version. To warm up the colour of the cumaru, prefer a tinted version. If your deck is not grey but blackened, it is advisable to apply Wood Cleaner N100 to remove black streaks.
