Due to the considerable effect that the relation between the lateral surface and the volume of wood blocks has on superficial treatments, this work has attempted to determine the ideal size which allows to evaluate the effectiveness of a preservative in the shortest possible time. Three wood blocks of different dimensions were tested. In addition, as it is necessary to neutralise the effect of the heads for superficial treatments, two kinds of sealant which are clearly affected by the size of the wood blocks (inert and active sealants), were also studied. Likewise, two kinds of superficial treatments (deeping and brushing) were analysed. The possible influence of the size and form of the wood blocks in preventive effectiveness was determined by the weight loss they suffered after 12 weeks of incubation on Gloeophyllum trabeum cultures in malt agar. As was expected, the results obtained showed the greatest degradation on smaller wood blocks. For this reason, larger wood blocks should not be used for tests of this kind, as these did not undergo significant weight loss under these two test conditions during the study. Regarding the sealant, it has been proved that inert sealant influences the fungi activity less than the active sealant. Finally, no differences as to the kind of superficial treatment were observed.

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