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In-service performance of wood depends upon the critical in-situ conditions. Case studies.
2008 - IRG/WP 08-20382
Wood is a unique building material, but is by nature designed to deteriorate. A detailed understanding of the factors and interactions involved are important when working with service life prediction of wooden components in buildings. Wood may experience exponential fungal degradation caused by variation in the climatic factors within a small limited area and by minor imperfection in the wooden ...
L Ross Gobakken, J Mattsson, G Alfredsen


Factors affecting sodium hypochlorite extraction of CCA preservative components from out of service treated wood for recycling
2009 - IRG/WP 09-50263
Significant amounts of chromated copper arsenate (CCA) treated wood products such as utility poles and residential constructions remain in service. There is an increasing public concern about environmental contamination from CCA treated wood when it is removed from service for reuse or recycling, placed in landfills or burned in commercial incinerators. In this paper, we investigate the effects of...
E D Gezer, P A Cooper


Effects of global climate change on mould growth - Interactions of concern
2010 - IRG/WP 10-50270
An evident change in climate the last decades has been recorded, and combined effects of increased CO2, elevated temperature and altered precipitation regimes have been observed to represent a change to the fundamental drivers within ecosystems. Growth of moulds, both in nature and on man-made constructions and objects, will most likely increase due to changes in the climate. The survival, the rep...
L Ross Gobakken


Chapter 14 - Accelerated fixation of CCA-treated bamboo
2007 - IRG/WP 07-10635-14
Chromated copper arsenate type C (CCA-C) fixation study on impregnated (with adequate w/v 6% CCA solution) then boiled, oven-dried, normal, air-dried and steamed bamboo slices of airdried borakbamboo (Bambusa balcooa Roxb.) of Bangladesh, revealed almost complete fixation in steamed (accelerated fixation) and air-dried (3 weeks, slow fixation) bamboo slices compared to moderate to low fixati...
A K Lahiry


Aesthetic service life of coated and uncoated wooden cladding - influencing factors and modelling
2011 - IRG/WP 11-20470
Mould growth on exterior coated cladding façades is an undesirable element and will often shorten the aesthetical service life. Mould growth on painted surfaces is influenced by type and concentration of film fungicides, the paint formulation and the wood substrate itself, and wooden cladding may experience exponential fungal deterioration caused by variation in the climatic factors, often within...
L Ross Gobakken, O A Høibø


Decay factors in termite in-ground monitoring stations
2012 - IRG/WP 12-10775
Subterranean termites are serious pests of wood in service in much of the world. One of the most common techniques for monitoring and controlling termites is the use of in-ground monitoring stations which comprise a wood or other cellulosic material monitor (cellulosic matrix) and/or a termiticide bait held in a open plastic holder so facilitates examination and the termite access. Wood and other ...
S Duarte, A M Taylor, Jae-Woo Kim, J D Lloyd, M Duarte, L Nunes


A survey of factors affecting decay resistance of wood modified with acetic anhydride
2012 - IRG/WP 12-40594
From the range of information published, acetylation appears well suited to provide adequate protection against biological attack for materials derived from typically non-durable wood species. Acetylated wood is now commercially available both in Europe and in the USA. But still there are a lot of unanswered questions related to fungal decay mechanisms in acetylated wood. The paper summarize exist...
G Alfredsen, P O Flæte, H Militz


A screening of factors that might influence the result of laboratory decay tests
2014 - IRG/WP 14-20548
Laboratory fungal decay tests provide important tools for performance testing of wood materials. But they are also hampered with some uncertainties regarding reproducibility. In addition to variation between fungal species and strains the test conditions are also believed to have some influence. The aim of this study was to screen the effect of a selection of test parameters that might influence t...
E Larnøy, G Alfredsen, A Treu, S Kolstad


Factors Affecting Performance of Preserved Wood Decking Against Decay Fungi
2015 - IRG/WP 15-30663
Decking is the largest market for residential preserved wood in the United States. Preserved decking must be resistant to colonization by decay fungi initiating from spores, and occasionally from mycelia due to elevated soil levels or adjacent untreated wood. The most vulnerable parts of a preserved wood deck are untreated, or under-treated, wood that becomes exposed by field cuts and checking. Fi...
R Stirling, P I Morris


Mould growth on spruce claddings and the effect of selected influencing factors after 4 years of outdoor testing
2015 - IRG/WP 15-30671
Norway spruce (Picea abies) is the most frequently chosen wood species as claddings in façades in Norway, and is used both coated and uncoated. The visual changes that occur during weathering can be colour changes, abrasion or wear, blistering, flaking, and even cracks in the wood or coating, but more often growth of mould and blue stain fungi is the main challenge. A field test with synchronous monitoring of relative humidity, air temperature, material temperature and wood moisture content in Norway spruce claddings has been performed in southern Norway as part of the ClimateLife project. Visual evaluation of blue stain and mould growth according to EN 927-3 was performed, and evaluation data after 46 months exposure is presented. The objectives were to study the effect of 1) environment, 2) cardinal direction and 3) colour of the coated surface on growth of blue stain and mould fungi and to study the variation in relative humidity, air temperature, wood moisture content and material temperature. After 46 months exposure, the red coating system had generally the lowest mould ratings and the uncoated claddings had the highest. Of the white coloured claddings the ones facing south had lower mould ratings than those facing north, but the opposite were found for red coloured claddings. The relative humidity was higher in front of claddings exposed northwards and in a shaded environment compared to an open environment against south. In an open environment red coloured claddings had the lowest wood moisture content and highest material temperature, and red coloured claddings against south had the highest maximum material temperature.
L Ross Gobakken, G I Vestøl


Identification of the key factors influencing development of the blue stain fungi
2016 - IRG/WP 16-10872
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 parall...
D Kržišnik, B Lesar, N Thaler, M Humar


Effects of climatic factors and material properties on mould growth on untreated wooden claddings
2017 - IRG/WP 17-10884
Mould growth is an important contributor to colour change of untreated wood exposed outdoors. Predicting the development of mould growth is therefore important to ensure successful use of untreated wood as a façade material. More knowledge about the factors affecting mould growth on outdoor exposed wood is required to give better predictions. In this study, climatic factors and material propertie...
S Karlsen Lie, G I Vestøl, O Høibø, L Ross Gobakken


Study of the Factors Influencing the Treatability of Fir (Abies alba)
2018 - IRG/WP 18-40850
A study of some factors influencing the treatability of fir (Abies alba) was carried out in order to add better value to fir sawn timber coming from the Jura country, which is an abundant natural resource. In this part of France, fir wood as construction material is highly challenged by another softwood species, spruce Picea abies. In order to carefully assess the treatability of fir sapwood and h...
E Raphalen, J-D Lanvin, M Kutnik, T Delobel, D Michaud, C Dubois


Occurrence of synanthropic beetles (Coleoptera Ptinidae) and checkered beetles (Coleoptera Cleridae) in relation to climatic factors in historical buildings from North-Eastern Germany
2021 - IRG/WP 21-10980
Predatory checkered beetles occur in many historical buildings. Thus, it is essential to learn more about the ecology of these beetles, specifically for their further use as suitable beneficial organisms in biological control of wood-destroying insects. In this study, indoor climatic conditions were examined as a major factor influencing their occurrence and that of their prey Anobium punctatum an...
C Baar, C von Laar, M Willert, H Bombeck


Investigating wood anatomical factors influencing the treatability of refractory southern pine- an imaging approach
2023 - IRG/WP 23-40975
Southern pine sapwood is non-durable, and preservative treatment is necessary to protect it against biological degradation. According to AS 1604.1 2021, timber products must have their sapwood fully treated with preservatives for various applications and hazard classes. However, there is a growing industry concern over the refractory sections of sapwood, which are untreated pockets of wood that do...
M Shirmohammadi, M R Karbaschi, B Hassan, W Leggate


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