There is an increasing awareness of how the aesthetical performance of wood exposed outdoors changes over time and especially in the first few years after installation. Mould and blue stain fungi are biological agents that contribute to the weather grey colour on a wooden façade, and the blue stain fungi Aureobasidium pullulans is commonly identified as colonizer on coated and uncoated wood exposed outdoors. In this study 21 wood substrates (untreated, preservative treated and modified) were tested for their susceptibility to A. pullulans when incubated at three different temperatures (11, 16 and 22°C). Western red cedar and preservative treated wood had the lowest mould ratings at the end of the test period (84 days). Alder, ash, Norway spruce and Sitka spruce reached maximum rating already at day 28, and at day 84 also aspen, European larch, thermally modified pine, birch, acetylated pine and DMDHEU modified pine had reached maximum rating. Incubation temperature had a significant influence on the growth of A. pullulans throughout the test period for acetylated and DMDHEU modified samples – and generally the modified wood substrates were more sensitive to changes in temperature than the other tested substrates. Scots pine sapwood seemed to be less susceptible to A. pullulans in mono cultures, demonstrating low mould ratings throughout the test period. This contradicts to previous studies were Scots pine sapwood tended to have high susceptibility when using a mix of mould and blue stain fungi.

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