Oregon Timber: How To Deal With The High Resin Content
With over 30 million acres of forestland, Oregon is America's leading producer of plywood and softwood lumber. Oregon timber is mainly utilised for structural framing in construction projects worldwide, and is prized for its versatility to accommodate a vast array of different needs and its availability in long lengths. Although Oregon timber is considered high quality, it does have a high resin content, which needs to be addressed if you plan on using it. This article will go in-depth about problems associated with timber containing high resin content and possible solutions.
Adverse Effects of High Resin Content
Oregon timber is popular as it comes in a wide variety of different grain textures and colours, from a delicate yellow to a bold and elegant reddish hue. Oregon timber tends to possess a high resin content, which causes the timber to be prone to resin bleeding, or resin exudation. With time, the resin within the timber will bleed and exude out.
If a layer of paint has already been used to seal the Oregon timber, resin bleeding will cause paint bubbles will emerge. If the timber has yet to be sealed and coated, you will be able to feel the fresh, sticky resin on the surface of the timber. Once the resin has bled through, it will weather and eventually crystallise into a white powder.
Resin bleeding is most likely to occur for timber facing the south and on dark surfaces. The heat from the sun will liquefy and mobilise the resin, causing it to bleed out onto the surface. The sticky surface from fresh resin bleeding or the crystals from hardened resin will take away from the overall appeal and versatility of the Oregon timber.
Possible Solutions
Fortunately, if you are aware of the fact that Oregon timber has high resin content, there are several possible solutions that you can implement in order to deal with this issue and prevent it from affecting the structural integrity of the framing and the overall aesthetics. Some possible solutions will include:
- leaving the Oregon timber out to weather for as long as possible before incorporating it into the structural framing. It is crucial to wait for the resin to crystallise, so that it can be removed manually with a stiff nylon or natural bristle brush. Remaining residues can be wiped off with a damp cloth.
- using water based coatings when sealing or painting the Oregon timber. If you are unsure of whether all of the resin has already been removed from the timber, opt for water-based coatings. Water based coatings have a relatively high degree of moisture vapour permeability. This is beneficial for timber with a high resin coating, as the resin will be able to better exude out to the surface of the timber without causing any noticeable damages to the paint.
- allowing for the resin to completely crystallise on painted surfaces before removing it naturally manually with a stiff nylon or with a natural bristle brush. Once the resin has completely crystallised and been removed, you will want to sand down the paint and re-coat it.
If you notice that the timber is bleeding fresh, sticky resin, you will want to leave the timber as it is. Attempts to remove fresh, sticky resin will be futile and will often be rather difficult. There is also no point in removing the resin before it has crystallised, as more resin will only continue to bleed out.
Conclusion
Oregon timber has been used for numerous construction applications all over the world due to its durability, versatility and aesthetic appearance. If you have decided to import Oregon timber, you will want to determine whether the exporters have already allowed the timber to bleed and have already removed all of the resin. If not, it is important that you go through the steps mentioned above to ensure that bleeding resin does not become a problem in the future.