IRG Documents Database and Compendium


Search and Download IRG Documents:



Between and , sort by


Displaying your search results

Your search resulted in 81 documents. Displaying 25 entries per page.


Performance of borate-treated lumber in a protected, above-ground field test in Japan
2006 - IRG/WP 06-30395
This document is supplemental to the previous IRG document (Tsunoda et al. 2004). An experiment to simulate the sill plate (dodai) of the Japanese houses was conducted at the termite field test site of the Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere of Kyoto University in Kagoshima Pref., Japan where two economically important subterranean termite species [Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki and R...
K Tsunoda, A Byrne, P I Morris, J K Grace


The Influence of Extractives on Western Redcedar’s Equilibrium Moisture Content
2006 - IRG/WP 06-40331
The high natural durability of western redcedar (Thuja plicata Donn) heartwood is often attributed to the presence of the thujaplicins, which are toxic to fungi. However, sound, twenty-five year old western redcedar shakes and shingles were found to contain only traces of the thujaplicins, but significant quantities of plicatic acid (which is only weakly toxic to fungi). This suggests that factors...
R Stirling, P I Morris


A New Decay Hazard Map for North America Using the Scheffer Index
2008 - IRG/WP 08-10672
Wood decay experts in the USA and Canada use the Scheffer Index for above-ground wood decay potential to decide among design and treatment options to ensure the durability of wood construction. This paper provides an updated North American decay hazard map and includes data on Central America. Index values calculated from recent climate data are higher than published values due to directional or c...
P I Morris, J Wang


Decay Hazard Classifications in China for Exterior Above-Ground Wood
2007 - IRG/WP 07-20357
A decay hazard map for exterior above-ground wood structures is presented based on Scheffer’s Climate Index, with the major purpose of promoting awareness for proper protection of wood structures in different locations in China. A very large area in the South, including southern Yunnan, most of Sichuan Province and Chongqing, and part of Hunan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang, as well as all...
J Wang, X Wu, M Jiang, P I Morris


Accelerated Above-ground Testing of Wood Preservatives
2007 - IRG/WP 07-20358
The Canadian wood preservation industry is interested the introduction of new preservative formulations, some of which are intended only for above ground uses. Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency requires data from field tests under Canadian conditions but these can take many years to generate results. Forintek has therefore developed an accelerated above ground test, under contract to a ...
P I Morris, S McFarling


Methods for Determining the Role of Extractives in the Natural Durability of Western Redcedar Heartwood
2007 - IRG/WP 07-20356
The durability of western redcedar heartwood is influenced by a number of different extractives operating by different mechanisms. In order to guide a systematic isolation of extractives with high fungal toxicity, a micro-bioassay has been developed for measuring the fungal toxicity of extractive fractions. Two additional assays quantify the anti-radical and metal chelating properties of cedar ext...
R Stirling, C R Daniels, J E Clark, P I Morris


Developments in Borate Treatment of Canadian Species for Decay and Termite Resistance
2007 - IRG/WP 07-30443
The increased interest in boron treatment of wood over the past 20 years is mainly due to its environmental acceptability, potentially deep penetration in wood, and its efficacy against decay and termites. Based on Forintek’s research in the past two decades, the boron penetration and retention requirements for decay and termite protection in various national and international standards for Cana...
Jieying Wang, P Morris, S McFarling, T Byrne


Development of an International Use Classification System
2008 - IRG/WP 08-20380
Working Party 2.5 of the IRG was set up in 1995 in response to discussion around proposals for an International Wood Preservation Standard. Two years later, ISO Technical Committee 165 Timber Structures set up a subcommittee SC1 Wood Materials – Durability and Preservation to address this issue. It was agreed that neither the European Hazard Class system nor any other regional system could be ...
P I Morris


Soft Rot Determines Service Life of L-joints with Low Borate Loading
2008 - IRG/WP 08-30470
As part of a research program on the potential use of borates by the Canadian wood products industry, Forintek set up an L-joint test of untreated and borate-diffusion treated hem-fir (western hemlock and amabilis fir) in 1990. The treated material had a low initial retention of only 0.2% boric acid equivalent and analysis after 5 years revealed no detectable borate close to the tenon. Nev...
P I Morris, J Wang, J K Ingram


Field Tests of naturally Durable North American Wood Species
2008 - IRG/WP 08-10675
There has been little field test performance data published on North American naturally durable species in general, and no published data on second growth material in particular. Yellow cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis), western red cedar (Thuja plicata), eastern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis), and three wood species reputed to be moderately durable were installed in ground-contact (stakes) an...
P E Laks, P I Morris, G M Larkin, J K Ingram


Sensitivity to Copper of Basidiospores from Copper Tolerant Fungi: Fomitopsis palustris and Oligoporus placentus
2010 - IRG/WP 10-10707
Copper continues to be an important fungicide in wood preservation. It is the primary component of the preservatives that have replaced chromated copper arsenate for treated wood in residential construction in North America. However, a co-biocide is normally needed to protect against copper tolerant organisms. Previous work has shown that the spores of at least one copper tolerant fungus, Oligopo...
C S Woo, P I Morris


A Review on Conditions for Decay Initiation and Progression
2010 - IRG/WP 10-20444
This paper reviews the key publications available on service life prediction of exterior wood applications, critical conditions for decay initiation and progression, and the impact of decay on wood strength. While it is helpful to use climatic data to predict general trend of decay potential, more precise decay initiation and progression information is required by hygrothermal modeling for its dam...
Jieying Wang, P I Morris


Degradation of Carbon-Based Preservatives by Black-stain Fungi
2010 - IRG/WP 10-30533
Some black-stain fungi are known to exhibit resistance to carbon-based preservatives. However, the cause of this resistance is unclear. The fungi may have mechanisms to tolerate these chemicals, or they may be able to degrade and detoxify them. Fungi capable of degrading carbon-based preservatives are of interest for possible bioremediation of carbon-based preservative-treated wood at the end of i...
R Stirling, P I Morris


Mobility of Copper from MCQ in Shell-Treated Wood Exposed Above Ground
2010 - IRG/WP 10-30534
Most Canadian treated decking in service has been given just a thin shell of preservative treatment but it has still performed very well. This is because copper migrated into checks and prevented germination of basidiospores on the freshly exposed untreated wood. Unlike soluble copper systems, MCQ has its copper primarily in the form of small basic copper carbonate particles. For MCQ to be effecti...
R Stirling, P I Morris


Improving our understanding of moisture and other durability-related properties of wood in building envelope performance prediction
2011 - IRG/WP 11-20468
Building science has become an increasingly important field in recent years with rapid changes in construction methods, building materials and consumer expectations. The field has also been brought to prominence by a few large-scale premature building envelope failures in a few regions across the world. Considerable effort has been put into developing hygrothermal models to simulate heat, air, vap...
Jieying Wang, P Morris


Decay initiation in plywood, OSB and solid wood under marginal moisture conditions
2011 - IRG/WP 11-20469
Hygrothermal models are increasingly used as research tools by building scientists and and design tools by designers to simulate heat, air, vapour, and water movements within and through building envelope and even to predict the consequences in terms of mould/decay growth and metal corrosion. This work was designed to generate data on decay initiation under marginal moisture conditions to support...
Jieying Wang, P Morris


Ten Year Field Tests of Borate-Treated Wood Against Subterranean Termites
2011 - IRG/WP 11-30557
In the mid 1990s, Forintek Canada Corp. initiated a study of the termite resistance of borate-treated lumber above ground, protected from rain in Canada, Japan and Hawaii. Predominant termite species at three test were Reticulitermes flavipes in Canada, and Coptotermes formosanus in both Japan and Hawaii. The material included hemlock and amabilis fir lumber treated with disodium octaborate tetrah...
P I Morris, J K Grace, K Tsunoda


Phytosanitary standards and the potential for acceptance of chemical treatments as a phytosanitary measure
2011 - IRG/WP 11-30558
Regulations governing international trade in forest products must balance the economic and social benefits of trade with the potential risks of transporting invasive species. The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) is an international agreement intended to manage this process. It develops international phytosanitary standards (ISPMs) that are recognised by the World Trade Organisation...
A Uzunovic, R Stirling, J J Morrell, P I Morris, C F Schauwecker


The Effectiveness of Machined Profiles at Reducing the Checking of Wooden Decking
2011 - IRG/WP 11-40541
This study tests the hypothesis that ‘the ability of surface profiling to reduce checking of deck boards exposed to weathering will vary with wood species and profile type’. Southern pine (Pinus sp.) and Pacific silver fir (Abies amabilis) deck boards were machined to produce three different types of surface profiles: flat (control), ribbed (V-shaped grooves), and rippled (U-shaped grooves). B...
P Evans, I Cullis, P Morris


Extractives in Norwegian-Grown and North American-Grown Western Redcedar and Their Relation to Durability
2012 - IRG/WP 12-10762
The extractives responsible for the natural durability of western redcedar (WRC) are not well understood. Recent work by the Norwegian Institute of Wood Technology and the Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute has evaluated the natural durability of Norwegian wood species and reference species, including Norwegian-grown WRC and North American-grown WRC, in a series of decay tests. The availabil...
R Stirling, P O Flæte, G Alfredsen, P I Morris


Inhibition of Basidiospore Germination by Copper from MCQ, ACQ and CCA Leachates
2012 - IRG/WP 12-10778
The long-term decay resistance of refractory wood shell-treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) in above-ground exposures has been attributed to mobile copper that migrates into checks and inhibits the germination of basidiospores. Copper from micronized copper quat (MCQ) has also been shown to migrate into checks suggesting similar performance as a shell treatment, but questions have been ra...
R Stirling, J Drummond, P I Morris


Scale-up of a chemical process for copper-based preservative-treated wood wastes recycling
2012 - IRG/WP 12-50286
In recent years, the development of appropriate wood waste disposal options has been encouraged by severe regulations and expensive fees associated with wastes landfilling or burning. An efficient and economically attractive leaching process was developed at laboratory scale (200 mL) for CCA-, ACQ- and CA-treated wood wastes recycling. This leaching process consisted of three leaching steps of 2 h...
L Coudert, L Gastonguay, J F Blais, G Mercier, P Cooper, P Morris, A Janin, N Reynier


Performance of Coatings on Wood Treated with Carbon-Based Preservatives
2013 - IRG/WP 13-40638
Wood treated with carbon-based preservatives is often used in applications where coatings are required, yet few studies have examined the effect of such treatment on coating performance. Users need to be confident that coatings on carbon-based preservative-treated wood will perform as well as or better than those on untreated wood. The present study examines the performance of three coatings on un...
R Stirling, P I Morris


Selection of Wood-Rotting Basidiomycetes for Inoculation of an Accelerated Soil Bed Test
2014 - IRG/WP 14-20543
There is a need for a test method that guarantees exposure of treated wood to soil and preservative-tolerant wood-rotting basidiomycetes as standard field tests do not do this reliably. The ability of a range of selected wood-rotting basidiomycetes to grow through unsterile forest soil was investigated in a Mason jar test assembly. None of the white-rot fungi in test grew through this soil. Fou...
P I Morris, A Uzunovic, J Ingram


Three-year field test of preservative-treated Canadian species in Korea
2014 - IRG/WP 14-30646
The purpose of this study was to generate field performance data in Korea on Canadian softwood species preservative-treated to Canadian standards. Two field tests of preservative-treated Canadian softwood species, one in ground contact and one above ground, were installed in Jinju, Korea in November 2010. Western hemlock and white spruce were incised and pressure-treated with alkaline copper quate...
Jieying Wang, Jong Bum Ra, P I Morris


Previous Page | Next Page