Sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) hardwood is one of the most durable European wood species. In the present research, various aspects that could potentially influence the durability were elucidated, namely: presence of extractives, ring width, and weathering. Simultaneously, properties of wood, which was in outdoor use for 35 years, were elucidated as well. The results indicate that ring width and weathering (35 years of outdoor use) did not influence the durability. None of the used fungi were able to degrade sweet chestnut heartwood in a modified EN 113 experiment. After extraction with methanol or water, specimens lost between 11% and 15% total mass by leaching of extractives. However, extraction only slightly decreased the durability of leached wood. This indicates that other components (besides water and methanol soluble extractives) could be responsible for durability. Furthermore, analysis of 35 years old wood showed that not all relevant properties of the old Sweet chestnut wood deteriorated in the mentioned time frame. This proves that old sweet chestnut hardwood could be potentially reused for variety applications, if necessary.

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