The occurrence of larch wood is rather frequent in civil engineering. Namely, in building façades, terraces and balcony fences. In Slovenia and other central European countries, the use of the Siberian larch is especially popular. In this research, the durability against decay fungi in laboratory conditions and water exclusion ability of plantation-grown and naturally grown Siberian larch (Larix sibirica) and the European larch (Larix decidua) was investigated. Various tests related to moisture absorption were performed (contact angle, short- and long-term water uptake and water vapour uptake). In addition, the resistance dose DRd, as the product of the critical dose Dcrit and two factors taking into account the wetting ability of wood (kwa) and its inherent durability (kinh) was determined in the laboratory. Results show no significant difference of the wood durability to decay fungi between larch species from a different origin. The higher difference was shown in water performance tests, especially, long-term exposure to the water resulted in a significant difference, which is clearly correlated to the wood density. Combinate effect of wetting ability and inherent durability of tested materials exhibited in resistance dose, where European larch show the highest resistance dose.

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