Super natural

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.

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.

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.

Top tips:

• Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil is designed for interior and exterior vertical timber surfaces only. For the most natural stain that is suitable for horizontal trafficable surfaces like decking and timber flooring, choose Resene Woodsman Decking Oil Stain (outdoors) and Resene Colorwood indoors in a colour that most closely represents your wood’s inherent hue. Or choose a colourwash finish such as Resene Whitewash, Resene Light Greywash, Resene Mid Greywash or a tinted hue from the Resene We Speak Beach collection for a lightlycoloured colourwash effect on interior flooring.

• When specifying a darker paint or wood stain colour outdoors, be sure to always ask for it to be tinted into a Resene CoolColour formula. Though they look the same, a Resene CoolColour offers better protection for your substrate than a normal Resene colour by reflecting back more of the sun’s harmful IR radiation. Resene Woodsman Cedar Natural Wood Oil is available in CoolColour options.

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

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