Care and protection of wood

Wood is one of the most versatile material that can be used in architecture. Inside a house there can be innumerable wooden elements, from furniture, to the very structure of the house then beams or coatings, such as floors or wallboard.

The wood is a very delicate material, in fact all of these elements are very often subjected to degradation, due to the action of the time, and to the attack of woodworms, molds and fungi, which by their action can lead to the complete destruction of the wooden elements.

So that this does not happen we must pay particular attention to the maintenance of wood by performing periodic inspections, that with a series of interventions targeted to the healthy maintenance of all elements of wood in our house, whether they are facing, structural or decorative coatings.

Elements and factors that attack the wood

There are many elements that contribute to the degradation and destruction of the wood, but the main threat are the woodworms, which are the larvae of a species of insects that use the wood to grow, perforating it. Once the eggs of these insects have unclenched, the larvae penetrate the wood remaining inside up to a period which can reach 10 years. Completed the qualifying period of development the larvae comes out of the wood, leaving a perforation in it, where it was nested.

Similarly, the termites, are particular insects that nestle in the wood elements. These usually tend to stick to the bottom of the wooden elements, such as the foundation of the wooden structure, or they attack the base of the doors. In addition, termites usually attack damp wood.
One can become aware of the presence of termites within an element, by knocking with his knuckles on the wooden surface, if this rings hollow it may be subject to an attack by termites.

Another element that attacks the wood is the dry rot, this is instead a kind of infestation caused by the presence of fungi that feed on the woody material making it brittle and soft, therefore very weak.
The main cause that leads to the development of this type of infestation is the presence of moisture, which participates in the development of the fungi themselves.

How to intervene on the wooden elements

To eliminate this kind of infestation of dry rot, you must contact a specialist, just in case the extent of the infestation is substantial, otherwise you can proceed by performing a series of actions such as making minor burns to the concerned areas, clean the woody surface with a specific preservative, then spraying the fungicide and, finally, painting the wood with a tar paint, so as to create a protective film on the surface of wood that is able to avoid further attacks by these fungi.

If you want to take action on the attack by woodworms, it must be done with specific products such as an anti-worm spray.
This liquid is sprayed uniformly over the entire surface of the wood be it a piece of furniture, a structural component or a coating element of course after the cleaning of the parts to be treated, using this type of product will eliminate the worms present in the structure and will avoid the nestling of new insects.

To remove termites from the wood, which usually tend to attack the foundation structures made of wood, you must first obtain an appropriate insecticide product, then you have to treat the area in the vicinity of the structure with the insecticide and also some parts of the wood eroded. The amount of insecticidal substance to be used depends essentially on the reach of the surface of the structure or the element that you are treating

Maintenance of doors and windows in wood

Obviously in order to make wooden elements that decorate our houses to last longer, we must lend as much care as possible.

As for the doors and/ or windows in wood, the first thing to do is to clean the items to be treated, it is sometimes necessary to use sandpaper to remove the existing paint or parts damaged due to the swelling of the wood. This is called planing the wood.

If the wood surface has cracks or fissures, these can be filled with putty for wood. After planed and filled, to clean the wood, it must be applied on the surface to be treated with a solution of oil and water with a soft cloth, this operation will be done as many times as needed.

This is followed by the application of paste wax. The whole is then cleaned with a cloth removing parts of excess wax.