Moisture performance of wooden shingles tested on the Golobar cable yarding

IRG/WP 23-20704

M Humar, B Lesar, D Kržišnik

Wood is a traditional roofing material in Europe and other parts of the world. In the 17th century, wooden roofing was generally used on more important buildings, but today it is mainly used on huts and houses in the Alpine regions. As wooden roofing is expensive, we investigated the possibility of extending the service life of the roofing through material selection and details. The roof of the Golobar cable yarding was covered with shingles made of spruce (Picea abies) and larch (Larix decidua). Part of the spruce roofing was thermally modified and/or treated with a water-wax emulsion. On the underside, we cut grooves in selected roof shingles to increase the specific surface of the wood and to accelerate drying after rainfall. In addition, wood moisture monitoring sensors were installed on the roof shingles. Based on three years of the wood moisture content measurements, it can be assumed that the grooves shorten the time when the moisture content of the roof shingles is optimal for fungal decay. Performance is further enhanced when the shingles surface is coated with an aqueous wax suspension. Similar conclusions can be drawn for thermally modified wood.


Keywords: wood, thermal modification, monitoring, wood moisture content, material climate, protection by design

Conference: 23-05-28/06-01 Cairns, Australia


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