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Super natural

From BlackWhite magazine - issue 07, timber feature

Maintain your timber’s integrity and enhance its inherent hue with this exciting new Resene product.

Stain exterior timber weatherboards with Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil

Timber weatherboards (left) finished in Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil Egmont, screen finished in Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil Aorangi, patio floor painted in Resene Walk-on tinted to Resene Merino

Vases in Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil Hanmer (left) and Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil Aotea (right), planter box in Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil Mount Aspiring, tray finished in Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil Nelson Lakes and small plant pot in Resene Lumbersider Low Sheen tinted to Resene Merino. Chair from Soren Liv. Projects by Amber Armitage, images by Wendy Fenwick.

Both locally and internationally, there is a major trend for timber cladding and other vertical wood elements to be incorporated in building designs both inside and out. In a time where authenticity of materials is valued and principles like biophilic design are also on the rise, there is an increased desire for those same timber accents to look as natural and untouched as possible. The trouble is, things are a bit different in our part of the world. While we might look abroad for design inspiration, some of the things happening elsewhere just aren’t possible here – and one of them is using unfinished timber as a building material.

For starters, our levels of UV radiation are harsher. In the Northern Hemisphere, designers might be able to get away with leaving certain timber surfaces bare or simply sealing them with an untinted clear coat. But for us, that’s unfortunately not the case. When there is so much more radiation bearing down on timber surfaces as there is here – particularly exterior ones – timber substrates that are not properly protected will breakdown quickly. Not only can this detract from the look of your project, but it can also ruin your client’s investment. It is also a mistake to think that just because these surfaces are placed vertically, they won’t be as exposed as horizontal surfaces might, which are constantly baking in direct sunlight or getting pelted by rain, snow, sleet or hail. Vertical surfaces, both inside and out, still need adequate protection from the elements, too.

Resene’s Technical Team are tasked with creating products that are both useful and robust enough to stand up to the challenges of our unique climate. When there is a particular look or need that specifiers and decorators are after, they listen and the Resene Research and Development Team gets to work. And now, they’ve developed a brand-new option for getting that covetable, natural look on your project’s vertical timber surfaces: Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil. As the name implies, the product is particularly suited for cedar, which has long been a popular type of wood to decorate with thanks to its lovely orange-red hue. But Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil can be used on many different types of wood both indoors and outside.

Previously, if you wanted to get a natural look on exterior timber cladding or interior timber walls, it would be recommended that you apply a stain colour as close as possible to your timber colour. If you didn’t like the impact that those light wood stains and colourwashes had on a test sample of your timber’s natural tone, you might have been tempted to simply apply a clear coat only. The Resene Technical Team does not recommend applying a clear coat to exterior timber surfaces, as it leaves the timber prone to damage from our high levels of UV radiation, resulting in negative consequences for the substrate – from early degradation and colour change to flaking and complete system breakdown. Leaving it bare leaves it even more prone to ravaging by the weather. While the initial look of bare or clear coated timber might be alluring, it’s not practical for today’s projects. The reason for this is that, in most cases, it’s actually the wood stain or colourwash’s pigmentation that helps reflect back UV radiation. Because clear coats are effectively clear by nature, there isn’t much of anything to prevent UV rays from reaching and damaging your substrate.

Top tip:  Remember that any timber surfaces that are part of your project design should be easily accessible for your client to be able to keep up with their maintenance. Stained and colourwashed timber that’s out of reach can cause additional headaches and add financial burdens if special equipment or scaffolding needs to be hired regularly. These inconveniences could potentially put the integrity of your client’s investment at risk and detract from the look of your design if upkeep isn’t feasible.

But with Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil, it’s easy to get a subtly-coloured look on vertical timber surfaces – particularly cedar. The formula is available in a penetrating finish that can be tinted to 21 new colours named after some of New Zealand’s most beloved national and forest parks which range from barely-there hues to bold orange, deep browns and off-black. And to make sure you have plenty of choice, you can also select hues from the Resene Woodsman colour range, too.

You might be wondering, if the lightest colours of Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil impart minimal colouring, how can it have enough pigment to protect from UV radiation? While deeper colours will provide more surface protection than some of the paler shades – which may need earlier maintenance – the product uses a combination of resins, including some from renewable sources. Penetrative wood stains offer easier maintenance and a different aesthetic compared to options that sit on top of the timber’s surface (which is the case with many waterborne wood stains) because they provide better anchorage. However, the materials that make up Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil are also more ‘natural’ than most penetrative stains.

Natural colours offer extra protection from UV light

Subtle, natural colours that offer vertical timber surfaces added protection from harsh ultraviolet light are now in reach thanks to the release of new Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil. Available in 21 colours from light through dark, each is named in honour of a different New Zealand National or Forest Park.

Background finished in Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil Egmont with timber objects in (clockwise from top) Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil Mount Aspiring, Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil Mount Richmond, Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil Aorangi, Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil Te Papanui and Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil Hanmer.

An outdoor area with stained timber weatherboards

Timber weatherboards finished in Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil Egmont, screen (right) in Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil Aorangi, patio floor in Resene Walk-on tinted to Resene Merino, left pot in Resene Merino, swing in Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil Kahurangi, planter box in Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil Mount Aspiring and right pot in Resene White Pointer. Side table from Soren Liv, boots from Allium.

Another interesting feature of some of the lighter colours in the Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil range is that their colours feature Resene’s new W tinter. The development of this tinter came about when the Resene Research and Development Team was looking for a white tinter with a semi-transparent look to extend the range of translucent colours. It was first used in the recently released Resene In The Wash hues. A key benefit that this new tinter offers is that it imparts a sophisticated ‘wash effect’ with a level of transparency that a paint pigment can’t. Since most whitewash, greywash and other similar products rely on a paint pigment to get their ‘whitened’ effect, the new tinter is enticingly subtler and affords an even more natural look.

For the majority of Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil colours used externally, you can expect that maintenance will be required every two summers. Vertical timber surfaces indoors will last longer before needing to be recoated as long as they are not exposed to direct sunlight.

Top tips:

Resene Colorwood Light Greywash
Resene Colorwood Light Greywash
Resene Colorwood Mid Greywash
Resene Colorwood Mid Greywash
 

Projects: Amber Armitage
Images: Wendy Fenwick

For more information on Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil, visit www.resene.com/natural-wood-oil or get in touch with your Resene Representative. To order a copy of the Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil colour chart, visit www.resene.com/specifierorder, and to order wood chip samples of Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil colours, click here.

View: label | safety data sheet | colour range

Order: colour chart | wood chips


BlackWhite magazine

This is a magazine created for the industry, by the industry and with the industry – and a publication like this is only possible because of New Zealand and Australia's remarkably talented and loyal Resene specifiers and users.

If you have a project finished in Resene paints, wood stains or coatings, whether it is strikingly colourful, beautifully tonal, a haven of natural stained and clear finishes, wonderfully unique or anything in between, we'd love to see it and have the opportunity to showcase it. Submit your projects online or email editor@blackwhitemag.com. You're welcome to share as many projects as you would like, whenever it suits. We look forward to seeing what you've been busy creating.

Earn CPD reading this magazine – If you're a specifier, earn ADNZ or NZRAB CPD points by reading BlackWhite magazine. Once you've read an issue request your CPD points via the CPD portal for ADNZ (for NZ architectural designers) or NZRAB (for NZ architects).

Return to BlackWhite, issue 07

 

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