Month: March 2021

Between the BBQ, the patio furniture and family get-togethers, decks have to handle more traffic than any other wood surface around your house. Your deck is the centerpiece of your outdoor entertaining space, but it’s easy to make mistakes that can keep it from standing up to the summer sun, weather and foot traffic. Sansin – a company that has exclusively focused on eco-friendly wood protection solutions for 30+ years – offers these tips for ensuring your wooden deck is properly designed and protected so you can focus on relaxing with friends and family.

• Making bad deck design decisions. Excessive moisture is much more problematic for a deck than UV exposure. Wetting causes the wood to swell and then shrink while drying. From this natural expansion and retraction, little cracks will form as the wood cycles through these extreme conditions. This can cause the wood to discolor and the coatings to wear prematurely. Designing your landscape, sprinklers and roof drainage to avoid excessive wetting on your deck can help reduce these extremes and extend maintenance cycles.
• Choosing the wrong finish. Where many deck coatings easily peel and scratch, water-borne finishes (like Sansin’s Dec) penetrate wood tissue, protecting the wood from deep within, repelling water, while allowing the wood to “breathe“ naturally and not trap moisture.
• Applying product at the wrong time of day. Do your deck maintenance in the morning, out of direct sunlight. A deck that is exposed to sun or has been in the sun all day will be too warm. This can cause your product to dry too quickly on the surface.

• Not properly prepping the wood surface. Preparation is key to a successful deck project. First, apply a biodegradable deck cleaner (like Sansin Multi-Wash) to remove buildup, mold and mildew. Rinse with a hose, and let it dry thoroughly. Next, use an orbital sander with 60-80 grit paper to create a level, consistently porous surface. This will ensure the wood will accept the right amount of stain. Now, apply the stain using a garden sprayer and back brush any puddles of product, but let the stain soak into the wood. Allow the first coat to dry completely before applying subsequent coats.
• Not being proactive about maintenance. “Early bird gets the worm” is an appropriate saying for decks. Doing deck maintenance before visible wear and tear leads to a much easier and enjoyable experience. It’s important to inspect the surface carefully from time to time and look for even the smallest signs that maintenance is needed. It’s easier to put a maintenance coat on then have to redo a deck. Pro tip: do a simple water bead test to show if it’s time for maintenance. Apply a few drops of water to the wood. If it beads, your deck is protected. If the water soaks into the wood, it’s time for restoration.
• Assuming your deck will wear evenly. A deck may have a high traffic area that leads from the back door to a pool or a much-used lawn area. Alternatively, you may have a couple of areas that get sprayed by sprinklers or design issues such as downspouts or a clogged evestrough (gutter) can cause water to pummel parts of the deck during rainstorms.

In the case of uneven wear, putting a maintenance coat over the entire surface may not work to address specific, more acute wear issues. Instead, you may need to treat specific spots by sanding them and applying a first coat of stain directly to the bare wood. In the case of excessive wear, you might need to redo entire boards by sanding them down to bare wood and then refinishing them with a first coat before applying a second maintenance coat.

By remembering these common mistakes and avoiding them when you’re working on your DIY deck project, you will be one step closer to enjoying fun in the sun this summer without worrying about the condition of your deck.

Wood is a beautiful, durable and versatile material, whether it is being used for millwork, cabinets, furniture, decking, or home construction. To help ensure lasting beauty and protection on your next wood project, follow these best practices.

Select a Suitable Wood Finish
Water-borne coatings are designed to penetrate deeply into the wood, rather than sitting on top, protecting wood from UV exposure and weather elements from the inside out. Water-borne finishes deliver outstanding color, durability and performance without the toxicity found in conventional stains. They are also easy to apply and maintain.

Prepare the Wood Surface
No matter the type of wood you’re working with, proper sanding is a critical first step to remove any mill glaze, open the pores, and allow the finish to penetrate. Use the proper equipment to evenly sand smooth wood the wood surface with 60-80 grit paper, and then use compressed air or a vacuum to remove the dust.

Follow Application Best Practices

Stir the water-borne product well (and continue to do so throughout the application process), ensuring there are no solids left on your stir stick. Test the color on a small, inconspicuous section of the wood to confirm you’re getting the look you want and the penetration the finish needs. Depending on the surface area you are coating, using a sprayer could be the fastest, easiest way to apply the product. For vertical surfaces, use a slightly upward angle and work section by section to apply the finish to the point of refusal from the bottom to the top. Use a high-quality brush to wipe away excess product, drips or runs. Follow the manufacturer’s directions on drying time before applying additional coats. Watch this video to learn more: https://youtu.be/n1QxTfRwWWk.

Be Proactive About Maintenance 

The durability of a wood finish depends on many factors, including surface preparation, proper application, exposure to UV and moisture, the color of the finish (the darker the pigment, the more protection it offers), and the quality of the wood, just to name a few. As the maintenance time approaches, examine the surface of the wood every six months to check on the status of the coating.

Wood Finish and Treatment Decisions for Lasting Log Home Protection

Whether you currently own a log home or are purchasing or building one, you no doubt appreciate the enduring beauty of wood and the log home aesthetic. To protect your investment and ensure your home stands the test of time, you will want to protect it from dirt, moisture, UV exposure and other handling damage. This means wood treatment and finishing are critical decisions. Rather than choosing a coating that creates a non-breathable, waxy film on top of the wood, there are water-borne finish options that deeply penetrate into the logs, allowing water to evaporate and preventing moisture from getting trapped and rotting the logs from within.

Sansin Finishes: Eco-friendly & Durable

For more than 30 years, the Sansin Corporation has been exclusively dedicated to the development of enviro-friendly, water-borne wood finish technologies that make wood beautiful, durable and easy-to- maintain. Sansin’s wood coatings utilize a unique water-borne alkyd formula that combines the benefits of both oil- and water-based coatings but in a formula with much lower VOC (volatile organic compounds) levels.

Additionally, rather than using toxic dyes in the colorant system, Sansin utilizes nano technology to create pure pigments ground so fine that they deliver remarkably vibrant, uniform and long-lasting color. Because the finishes don’t form a film on top of the wood, the coatings won’t crack, chip or peel. Water-borne finishes also dry faster, allowing additional coats to be applied in one day rather than waiting a day or two between coats. When properly applied, the coatings offer superior UV protection and lasting durability that enables log home owners to extend the time between maintenance coats.

Sansin Products for Log Homes

Sansin recently launched an enhanced formula for its flagship Classic 1-2-3 wood protection system, which is specifically developed for logs and big timbers. Because of its penetrating nature, Classic 1-2-3 can dive deeper into the wood and help stabilize it while preventing cracking and checking as the logs dry out. The system creates a natural, low-luster finish in three formulas that will lighten, not go dark, over time:

• Classic 1: A deep penetrating, tintable base layer for natural wood tones and translucent colors, which offer even color and long-lasting protection.
• Classic 2: A penetrating, tintable formula that may be used as a second coat for natural wood tones and translucent colors or as the first coat for saturated and ultra-saturated colors. This coat offers enhanced weather and UV protection.
• Classic 3: A tintable formula that defines the wood grain and provides enhanced color, tone and UV protection with a beautiful low-luster fin It is the final coat in the Sansin Classic system – and can be used as the maintenance coat.

Sansin SDF is the company’s most versatile exterior finish and, in addition to log home restoration projects, works well on decks, docks, siding and fences. SDF’s specially-formulated oils and resins penetrate into the wood, creating a monolithic bond for outstanding weather and UV protection that won’t crack, peel or blister. SDF can be used on horizontal and vertical wood surfaces and is available in a wide range of natural, semi-transparent and even solid colors. Because SDF is designed to be highly water-repellent, it’s a natural choice for log homes in moisture-rich environments.

SDF Topcoat offers additional durability and superior water repellency using a semi-film forming finish. SDF Topcoat is great for surfaces where water splash-back causes discoloration due to moisture intrusion or frequent wetting.

When it comes to protecting wood during construction, Sansin Foundation, a nearly invisible penetrating base coat, is simply the best way to protect logs from damage during construction. Just give the wood a light cleaning, and then you can also use it as a base coat for Classic or SDF, creating those lighter, more natural tones but with built-in UV protection. Foundation penetrates into the wood, creating dimensional stability while reducing checks and wood movement. It is available in three tones that complement the wood species of fir, cedar and lightwood.

Look no further than Sansin Timber-Tec for your in-yard protection. Timber-Tec is an industrial grade product that protects from UV degradation, blue stain and repels water (helping wood dry), and it also mitigates wood discoloration during the construction process. Timber-Tec can be applied to green or seasoned logs, improving dimensional stability and allowing wood to adjust gradually to moisture levels in the environment. It comes in in two formula options. M-30 provides the natural light color of fresh pine while C-20 is a clear concentrate that provides a light honey color to the wood after it dries.