Glaze, oil, paint, antiseptic for the facade of a wooden house.

Wooden construction has its own culture, architecture, styles, wide geography, and a rich multi-thousand-year history. Since ancient times, wood, due to its almost 100% ubiquity, ease of processing, physical properties, aesthetics, and environmental friendliness, has been very popular among our ancestors. Since time immemorial, various technologies for building wooden houses have been known around the world, but the most common today are frame, support-beam, "fachwerk" type, and of course made of timber or logs: solid (log house), rounded, or glued. All these technologies are good in their own way from different points of view: frame technology is characterized by its cost-effectiveness and flexibility of architectural solutions, solid wood - reliability and durability. And all wooden construction technologies are united by one thing - in all types, the main building material is wood.

If we break down the process of designing and building a wooden house into stages, we get three basic stages: Designing a wooden house (calculating the foundation for the structure, designing the overall appearance, calculating load-bearing structures, roof, windows, layout, etc.); Construction of a wooden house (construction of the frame, walls, roof, installation of windows and doors); Finishing (including painting) of a wooden house. And since our article is devoted to painting, namely painting the facade of a wooden house, we will dwell on this topic in more detail below, omitting the previous stages and (or) imagining that all previous stages have been completed. Let us stipulate in advance that the concept of painting the facade of a wooden house can include painting the walls of a gazebo, bathhouse, country house, or temporary structure.

As we know, wooden houses used to be built for centuries and did without modern paintwork materials (hereinafter - PM), and they all perfectly withstood operation for years and decades, and in different climatic conditions, and now, if you believe the words of most modern manufacturers, wood will serve significantly less if it is not painted. And where then to look for the truth and the answer to the questions: to paint and why? And the answer is quite simple: The first reason, of course, is that wood is destroyed very quickly under the influence of external factors acting on it. And since wood is a material that achieves its strength due to, in fact, two substances: lignin and cellulose (by analogy with ordinary construction, lignin is cement, cellulose is bricks), the overall goal of painting a wooden facade is to keep the bond of cellulose and lignin in perfect order, preventing either substance from collapsing, each of which is destroyed for different reasons. Cellulose is destroyed by fungus, mold, which feed on it, and lignin is destroyed by the effects of ultraviolet light on wood. In addition to all this, it is worth adding atmospheric loads in the form of rain or snow, temperature extremes and mechanical loads, which negatively affect both substances. It is for this protection that PM is primarily intended. Of course, one cannot ignore the human desire for beauty and, whatever one may say, a house painted with colored glaze or oil looks much more beautiful and aesthetically pleasing than a house smeared with birch tar or clear drying oil, or generally an unpainted house. And the third reason is the banal increase in the speed of life and technological progress, which allowed humans to accelerate the process of preparing wood for the manufacture of various wooden products, bypassing the long-term process of natural drying, thereby giving them the technology to accelerate the preparation of material, when felled timber, which a hundred years ago lay for years before further processing, is ready for the manufacture of wooden products from it in a few months. Thereby getting a number of difficulties that force the use of PM.

2.1. General classification of paintwork materials

All the above factors have led to the fact that over the past century, coatings that are more weather-, wear-, chemically resistant and at the same time absolutely safe for humans and the environment have been constantly developed. Therefore, to begin with, a general understanding is necessary to give a specific person the opportunity to figure out for himself what to paint the facade of a wooden house with.

Briefly and in accessible language (although quite generalized), PM for wooden facades are divided: By type of transparency, PM are divided into opaque - coatings that completely cover the natural pattern of wood texture and glazing coatings - translucent, which not only do not cover, but also emphasize the unique natural pattern of wood. Opaque includes all types of paints, glazing - glazes (impregnations, varnishes) and oils. By type of solvent, PM for wooden facades, of course very conditionally, can be divided into two types: based on organic solvents (white spirit, solvent, butyl acetate, etc.) and water-based. It is the solvent that acts as the substance that makes PM fluid, suitable for comfortable application to surfaces. In short, if the seller in the store or the composition on a can of paint, impregnation, etc. states that the composition is water-based, then the solvent in this product is water. As a rule, water-based PM, solvent-based and white spirit-based are used for painting facades. Almost 100% of modern glazes, impregnations, oils, paints for facades are products based on the aforementioned solvents. By type of sequence, PM can be divided into: starting (primers), which are not suitable as a durable coating, but are necessary because they perform the function of leveling the surface and its deeper antiseptic protection, and finishing (glazing or opaque), to protect wood from atmospheric and temperature loads by creating an elastic and non-washable coating, which also does not allow protects wood from UV radiation. Immediately it can be indicated that pigments that give color usually act as additives for protection against ultraviolet in PM for facades. That is why colorless, non-colored coatings do not have full wood protection and without their presence the wood will be susceptible to destruction from ultraviolet.

2.2. Type of painting: repeated or first

Now, having decided on the general concepts, the next thing to do is to determine first of all what kind of painting we have ahead of us - first or repeated. Because there are differences between them. With the first painting, it is necessary to remember two basic rules: first - the moisture content of the wood when painting should not exceed 20%, because at a higher figure, the moisture contained in the wood will constantly load the PM from the inside, striving to leave its limits, so the wood coating will not last long; second - sanding the wood, which allows the starting PM to penetrate the wood as deeply as possible and create the maximum grip (adhesion), carried out with coarse sandpaper with a grain of P40-P80 and intercoat - creating maximum adhesion of layers, which is done with finer sandpaper P180-P320. With repeated painting, everything is a little more complicated. Before performing it, the first thing to determine is what type of coating was previously on the wood: organic solvent-based or water-based? And this is very important, because painting the facade can turn into wasted money, because the development of PM is managed by science - chemistry, and it is an exact science and although it tolerates, and even loves experiments, but only in laboratories, and not on the facades of houses. Therefore, it is immediately necessary to remember and understand one simple fact: if the facade was previously painted with water-based paint products, it is not recommended to apply a coating based on an organic solvent over it without completely removing it by sanding or washing, and vice versa: a coating on an organic solvent is not recommended to be applied to a previously painted with water products surface!!! Not always so, of course, but it's not worth the risk. This is very important! You just need to remember this! And to explain simply why this is so, a simple example can be given: everyone of us probably knows that no matter how hard you try to mix oil with water, it will not work. It's about the same with paint coatings. And all because the molecular structure of water-based and organic solvent-based paintwork materials is different. Therefore, we remember a simple rule: before applying any product to a previously painted surface, we remember what this surface was painted with before, then read the manufacturer's recommendations, and only then proceed to painting.

2.3. Preliminary preparation

As described above, preparing the surface of a wooden facade is an important core that will allow the paintwork to last as long as possible, thereby protecting the wood from destruction for many years and creating the most attractive appearance of the facade for years. And not only this. Remember, neglecting the preparation of the surface for subsequent painting, you can reduce the service life of the coating by two, five, or even ten years just by this act, risking in the future to incur costs not only for the purchase of new PM, but also for materials and work that will be associated with this. And if we add to this all the discomfort and inconvenience caused by the search for paint and varnish materials, the team that will perform the repainting or wasting time and effort on independent repainting and other, and other inconveniences, the prospect becomes clearly not a joyful hue. The second point in preparing to paint a wooden facade is the choice of paintwork material. It will allow evaluating the preliminary cost of coverage and related expenses, knowing the consumption of the selected PM, its price, which depends not only on the manufacturer, but also on the type. And now we have smoothly approached the choice of material. More on this later.

Earlier we came to a clear understanding that a wooden facade experiences a load in the form of: atmospheric impact, temperature extremes, damage by mold spores, fungus and the impact of ultraviolet rays. Thus, all known global manufacturers of PM, who value their reputation, produce their products for wooden facades with an eye specifically on these factors. Each of them is inclined to protect its own type of products for facades, which has "unique" properties. For years now, disputes over what is better and more durable have not stopped: glaze or oil, organic solvents or water. I don't want to be biased, so we will consider three main types of PM for facades: paints, oils and glazes according to the main indicators: reliability and durability, ease of use, cost. After all, in the end, it is characteristic of a person to seek answers to questions of interest, and each of us feels much better when he is confident that he did everything right.

3.1. Paints

In this article, it is no coincidence that I started with paint. To date, it is the most well-known to the average person. This is the only thing the buyer knows when entering a PM store. And so, paint. And what are its advantages? The first and indisputable fact in favor of choosing paint is its durability. A facade painted in full compliance with the painting technology is guaranteed to withstand 1.5-2 times higher than a facade painted with glaze or oil. Its service life can reach 10 years without carrying out any repair work, tinting, while during this period its color, if it is pastel shades, may not change significantly. The second plus in favor of choosing paint is the simplicity and complete variety of application methods: spray gun, brush, roller, etc. The third plus, of course, is the color gamut. The palettes of many manufacturers reach tens of thousands of colors, so the color of the facade can be anything. All this is due to one factor - the solid residue in the paint. It is the dry residue indicator in paints that is the highest among all PM and it is this that gives the highest thickness of the finished coating, which determines the degree of wood protection, and such a wide possibility of tinting.

But, at the same time, paint also has a number of disadvantages, the first of which is the highest cost in relation to glaze or oil. If you look at the facade line of any one manufacturer, the paint in its assortment will be the most expensive product. And this is all connected with the same dry residue, which is nothing more than the future coating, and accordingly, during production, most of the raw materials go exactly to paint, which affects the cost. The cost of paint is approximately 1.5-2 times higher compared to the cost of glazes and oils. Well, the second disadvantage, of course, is the loss of the unique texture on the wood surface. This applies especially to log or timber houses, painting which with paint loses their aesthetics and unique warmth.

It is also worth noting that when subsequently repainting a wooden facade painted with paint, its owner with minimal costs can repaint it only with paint and only in the same or darker tone than before. It is impossible to paint a previously red house white without deep re-sanding. And this is all financial and labor costs. And this also needs to be taken into account especially when painting the house for the first time. There is no need to speak about changing to a glazing coating.

Paints are of two types, among them the most widely popular are water-based acrylic paints, due to their universal properties: high elasticity of acrylic, which perfectly withstands temperature extremes, wide operating temperature range, environmental friendliness, water, chemical resistance and resistance to ultraviolet. There are also paints based on organic solvents, one- and two-component, but we will not dwell on them in detail, because almost the entire market for facade paints for wood is water-based acrylic paints.

3.2. Oils (oil-waxes)

This type of PM is the newest on our market, at the same time, its most common representative is simple drying oil known to everyone since ancient times. What can we say if the well-known global brand Tikkurila began with a shop for boiling drying oil. And if briefly and concisely, wood oils are products similar to drying oil. A distinctive feature of wood oils is the introduction into their compositions based on linseed, hemp oils, beeswax and substances that give the composition hardness.

Oils have found their wide application for the main reasons: ease of use, low (economical) consumption, if the consumption of glazes reaches 200 ml. per 1 m2, and paints up to 250-300 ml. per 1 m2, then oil consumption usually does not exceed 100 ml. per 1 m2, and if you consider that the density of oil can be in the range of 0.8 kg. /1 liter, the consumption turns out to be generally meager, a beautiful effect of "igniting" the wood texture and, of course, good protection of wood from external influences. Oil, due to its properties, is very easy to repaint and practically does not require mechanical processing of a previously painted surface. It dries very quickly, up to 15-30 minutes, which of course is a plus when you need to quickly paint the surface. And of course environmental friendliness, where would we be in our time without it.

Among the disadvantages, it should be noted the price, which for some manufacturers can be even higher than paint, as well as the fact that oil still has a fairly short service life, which is limited to two or three years. And even despite the fact that a surface covered with oil ideally needs to be simply renewed every year and a half on average, compared to paint or glaze, whose service life is from 5 years, this is an undoubted disadvantage.

3.3. Glazes

Well, the most common PM for facades today belongs to glazes. Such widespread use in the field of painting wooden facades is caused by optimality both in terms of cost and in terms of reliability, and relative durability, as well as ease of use. Let's try to answer the question, what is glaze, because even from people engaged in wooden construction and painting of facades, one can often hear the words "varnish", "paint" directed at glaze, but by no means glaze. First, let's figure out what kind of product this is.

Glaze for protecting wood outdoors – is a glazing paintwork material that serves to protect wooden surfaces that are not subjected to mechanical loads outdoors from moisture, atmospheric and temperature loads, precipitation, ultraviolet radiation, fungus, mold, insects, etc. We have determined above what factors a wooden facade is exposed to, so we will not dwell on this in detail. We only note that glaze is a product that combines the properties of varnish, paint, oil, primer and antiseptic, i.e. 3 in 1 – primer, topcoat and antiseptic in one bottle.

Glazes are divided into two main types: Water-based; Based on an organic solvent. As a rule, it is white spirit or solvent. Each type has its advantages and disadvantages, which we will not dwell on. We will only say that all that unites them is good protection of the wooden facade, which is achieved by creating a stable long-term coating resistant to washout, due to various polymers, exposure to ultraviolet rays due to the use of pigments and exposure to fungus and mold due to the addition of antiseptics safe for humans to their compositions. But water-based glazes are in great demand and widespread primarily due to the absence of a large amount of volatile substances (i.e. odor), environmental friendliness, practicality of working with them, tool cleaning, etc. And recently, water products have significantly crowded out products on organic solvents not only in the field of woodworking, but also in the field of metalworking and domestic construction.

Glazes are tinted in a wide range of colors, which is inferior to the color palette of paints, but is not limited to two or three colors, but reaches at least twenty, or even more colors and shades. Glazes are applied usually with a brush, which does not require special skills and professional equipment. The service life of a facade painted with glaze can reach 7-10 years. And with further optimal operation, only regular maintenance and restoration in the form of removing the top layer of the coating by light re-sanding and applying a restoration layer is necessary.

And so we figured out the main types of finishing coatings. But the picture will be complete if we do not touch upon the topic of wood antiseptic treatment. Antiseptics also differ in their purpose, but we are interested specifically in antiseptics for outdoor use.

Now, for universality and practicality, impregnations or primers (antiseptics) for wooden facades are a 2-in-1 product: antiseptic and primer. They penetrate into the upper layer of wood, usually by 2-3mm., and due to the content in their composition of substances that prevent the development of mold spores, mold, etc., and also create a primer adhesive layer that allows improving the quality of the finish coating, thereby increasing protection and significantly reducing the consumption of materials for the final painting, thereby significantly reducing financial costs, because the cost of impregnation is about one and a half to two times lower than the cost of the finish coating. That is why for professionals, the PM manufacturer always paints out the painting technology, where to all indications attaches a coating scheme consisting of several paintwork products. For facade products, this scheme for most of the world's most famous manufacturers consists of an impregnation with an antiseptic, which is applied in one coat, and one or two coats of finish coating.

Therefore, it is necessary to strictly follow the instructions of the PM manufacturer in order to obtain maximum protection of the wooden facade, and this largely applies to proper protection of wood from fungus, because fungus and mold located in the wood will automatically draw moisture, which will destroy the wood.

Well, the topic would not be fully disclosed if in conclusion we did not touch upon the proper operation of wooden facades. It would seem, but what for? And the whole point is that the facade coating that protects the wood is exposed to ultraviolet light, which, as already mentioned, destroys it. For this reason, it is necessary to regularly monitor the integrity of the coating and prevent its destruction in the form of even the smallest bald patches, because they, along with launching the destruction of wood from external influences, open the wood to the ingress of mold and fungus spores, which fill the air, and they, falling on open wood without coating, begin to multiply actively and start the process of destruction of wood, accumulation of moisture in it and, as a result, peeling of the rest of the coating. Therefore, if peeling of the coating appears even on small areas of wood, measures aimed at repairing this coating must be taken immediately.

In addition to everything, a wooden facade needs to be subjected to preventive washing with clean water at least once a year, or better twice, and preferably with the help of a special wood cleaner. This applies especially to the base part of the facade, on the surface of which soil often falls during rain, which is an ideal environment for fungus to multiply.