Why?

Coatings are essential to give your glulaminated timber the protection it needs to stay in great condition. Coatings form a layer to protect your timber, Prevent exposure to the elements and keep your Glulam in shape.  In house staining is available for your Techlam project to create an efficient process.

Techlam supplies Glulam timber products treated to H1.2, H3.1, H3.2 and H5. For this level of treatment, a coating is not required but over time the timber will become grey in colour and checking and fine cracking can occur. These changes only impact the appearance and have no impact on the structural performance. To prevent these changes we recommend that a paint or stain system is applied. This should be applied within 24 hours of receipt of delivery of the product. A light sand and reapplication of the coating is all that is required to maintain the original appearance.

What to use?

We recommend an Oil Based stain or paint for your product. An oil based stain penetrates deep into the timber to protect from the inside out. They’re a water repellent coating which means there’s no chance of cracking or flaking. Some of our most used products are CD50, Sikkens, Drydens, Woca and Woodsman ranges.

A coating that has an LRV of above 45% works best. The LRV of a stain is hard to measure, depending on the colour of the wood, intensity of the colour and darkness of the tone. Stains with a Light Reflectant Value that is too low can result in inadequate protection, drying the timber out from attracting too much sunlight.

Thinking of using a polyurethane coating? We would recommend steering clear of these, as they can crack and weather easily, and require frequent re coating. A polyurethane provides a film over the timber, meaning the deep penetration of oil protection isn’t there.

Read more on our coatings download.