Service life of wood is more and more frequently affected by aesthetic requirements than functional ones. In order to elucidate various aspects of service life, model house with façade elements made of 22 materials was built on the field test site at Department of Wood Science and Technology in Ljubljana. Colour and fungal disfigurement is among other parameters monitored on this house. In parallel specimens made of the same materials as façade were analysed in laboratory as well. Samples were exposed to blue staining organisms in various standard and non-standard tests. Part of the samples was artificially weathered after blue staining and afterwards exposed to blue staining organisms again. The results of the colour measurements and blue staining test clearly indicate that this type of the laboratory exposure fits the best with the results of the outdoor tests.

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