Construction Timber Part 2

Materials

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Lesson 5: Timber Part 2

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4.7 Preservation of Timber

Types of preservations

The three types of preservative commonly in use are:

1)Tar Oil
2)Organic solvent
3)Water-borne

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4.7 Preservation of Timber

1) Tar Oil Types:

They are byproducts of coal tar and wood tar, for
example coal tar are relatively inexpensive and
effective but have some practical disadvantages
such as odour (smell) and the liability to stain other
materials.

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4.7 Preservation of Timber

2) Organic Solvent Types:

Consist of various toxic chemicals in an oil solvent
which is volatile (e.g. white spirit and petroleum
distillates). They are relatively costly but offer good
penetration, dry quickly and can be over painted.

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4.7 Preservation of Timber

3) Water-Borne Types:
These are aqueous solutions of one or more toxic
salts (e.g. copper sulphate or aluminum sulphate
etc).

They are convenience to use, offer good

penetration and allow over-painting when dry.
However, the re-drying of treated timber by kilning
may be necessary.

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4.7 Method of Preservation
The main methods of preservation include:

1)Brushing and Spraying

This is the earliest and least effective method which
can be used with all types of preservatives. Suitable
for treatment of timber in situ. The penetration
obtained seldom exceeds 1.5 mm. Tar oil should be
preferably applied hot.

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4.7 Method of Preservation
2)Immersion
This method may be specified for a variety of
preservatives, although the organic solvent type is most
frequently used in this method.

The period of immersion may vary only a few seconds, to

a few minutes or up to one hour. Deeper penetration is
obtained and hence this method is more effective than
the brushing and spraying

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4.7 Method of Preservation
3) Pressure Process:

Unlike the previous methods which are non-

pressure processes, here the preservatives are
impregnated by application of pressure. This gives
deepest penetration and is the most effective
method of treatment for most timbers.

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4.7 Method of Preservation
The two principle types of pressure treatment processes used in
timber preservation are as follows:

Full-cell Process:
a)Timber is placed in an enclosed pressure cylinder.
b)Vacuum for a period of 30 minutes to 1 hour.
c)While the vacuum is maintained the water-born type is then
introduced to fill the cylinder.
•Pressure is then gradually increased and maintained for periods
up to several hours until the required amount of preservative has
been introduced into the timber.
•The length of time is depending on the type of timber and
preservative.
•Then the pressure is reduced and the cylinder is drained of
preservative.
•A further vacuum is applied for a brief period just long enough to
clean the surface of the timber.
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4.7 Method of Preservation
Empty-cell Process:

This differs from the full-cell process in which no

initial vacuum is used.

a)Air remains in the cells and after treatment

b)The cell cavities of timber are only partially filled
with preservatives.
c)This method is normally confined to treatment with
creosote or tar-oil types.

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4.7 Method of Preservation
The ten essential requirements of a good timber
preservative:

A wood preservative should have the following

properties:

a) Toxicity:
High toxicity to wood destroying organisms.
b) Penetration:
Ability to penetrate deeply into the wood is essential.
c) Permanency:
Should remain permanently in the wood in service
and should not leach or diffuse out of the wood in the
presence of water or high humidity.
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4.7 Method of Preservation

d) Chemical stability:
Chemicals used should not break down nor lose
their toxicity over a period of time.
e) Safety:
Should be safe to handle and use and non-
poisonous to animals and humans when in the
timber.
f) Interaction with other materials:
The preservative should not react with other
materials placed in contact with it to cause corrosion,
staining, etc.

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4.7 Method of Preservation

g) Cleanliness and odour:

Preservatives used in buildings should be free
from objectionable smells, clean to handle and use,
and should not contaminate foodstuffs.

h) Painting:
It must be possible to paint, stain, varnish or
polish treated timber in the same manner as untreated
timber.

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4.8 Timber available in the region

Group A Group B Group C Group D

Externally Very Strong Strong Weak

Strong
Chengal (HH) Tembusu (HH) Teak (MH) Durain (LH)

Balau (HH) Kapur (MH) Ramin (LH) Jelutong (LH)

Gian (HH) Merbau (HH) Meranti (LH) Damar Minyak (S)

Bakau (M) Kempas (MH) Nyatoh (LH)

HH – Heavy Harwood S – Softwood

MH – Medium Hardwood M - Mangrove
LH – Light Hardwood

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4.8 Properties of Timber

1. Density:
a)1500 kg/m3.
b)Variations in density are usually results of differences
in growth rate under the influence of latitude, climate
and soil conditions
c)The major practical importance of density in timber is
its role as an indicator of strength

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4.8 Properties of Timber

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4.8 Properties of Timber

2. Strength Properties:
Density and a wide range of naturally occurring
defects affect the strength of timber.
The strength properties differ with respect to the
direction of loading relative to the grain direction.
Timber strength is also affected by moisture content,
rate of application and duration of loading and
temperature.

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4.8 Properties of Timber

3. Deformation:
Timber experience deformation due to:-
a)Applied loads
b)Change in moisture content
c)Changes in temperature.
Timber expands and contracts on heating and cooling.
Under low levels of load applied for short duration,
timber deforms elastically.
If load applied is increased beyond a certain point,
deformation increase more rapidly and the stress-stain
relationship becomes more curvilinear before strength
failure finally occurs. 19
4.8 Properties of Timber

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4.8 Properties of Timber

4. Durability:
Timber is bio-degradable. Different species of timber will
deteriorate at different rates. Timbers are generally
classified in five broad categories ranging from:-
a)Perishable (survive less than 5 years)
b)Very durable (survival for more than 25 years).

The very durable timbers are all hardwoods and include

teak.

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4.9 Uses of Timber

1. Structural Appliances
a) Marine Work:

i.Much of the marine works traditionally require timber

for wharves, piers, sheet piling and cofferdam.
ii.The requirements for the timber in marine work are
high density, close grain structure and natural durability
and wear resistance.
iii.All these qualities are found only in hardwoods.

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4.9 Uses of Timber
b) Heavy Construction Work:
i.Timber is used in construction work mainly for piling.
ii.Other uses include gantries, bridges, shoring and
abutments.
The requirements of timber for this use are high
density, closeness of grain, resistance to impact and
chemical attack.

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4.9 Uses of Timber
c) Medium/light construction work:

i. Roof trusses, partitions, screens, floors and wall

panels are produced using timber.
ii. The requirements in the class of work are
resistance to insect and fungal attack and minimum
dimensional change due to temperature and
humidity variations.
iii. The timber suitable for this use is softwoods such
as whitewood and redwood.

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4.9 Uses of Timber

2. Falsework/Formwork carpentry
a) Used for in situ or precast concrete work
b) Support formwork for brick or stone arch.
Timber is also used for scaffolding purposes. The
principle requirements for the timber are
dimensional stability, ease of working, weight for
handling and transportation and resistance to
impact and abrasion

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4.9 Uses of Timber

3. Finishing joinery (decorative)

This category includes all of the non-structural timber
used in buildings such as:
a)Window
b)Doors
c)Stair
d)Floor
e)Facings or wall paneling.
The requirements for timbers for joinery uses are ease
of working and finishing, good gain pattern and
appearance when clear-finished, dimensional stability,

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5.0 Sheet materials

Sheet materials are processed timber products

include:
1)Plywood

2)Blockboard

3)Laminboard

4)Hardboard

5)Chipboard

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5.0 Sheet materials

1)Plywood

a) Made up of several thin layers of wood, glued

together under-pressure
b) Usually arranged so that the grain of alternate layers
are generally at right angle to each other for greater
strength and lightness.
c) Consists of odd numbers of piles (3-ply, 5-ply or 7-
ply), depending on the thickness.
d) Those which have more than three plies are known
as multi-ply boards.

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5.0 Sheet materials

Plywood is generally produced in standard size of

2440 x 1220 mm and in varying thickness of 3 to 25 m.
Plywood is obtained in many kinds of wood finishes.
Timber for manufacture of plywood include red
meranti, kapur and teak etc.

Plywood Uses
Plywood panels are used throughout house
construction. Some of the common uses are exterior
siding (7-ply), wall and roof sheathing, interior wall
paneling, flush door and concrete formwork etc

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5.0 Sheet materials
Advantages of Plywood:

a) Plywood is comparatively light in weight

b) Screws and nails can be driven close to the edge
without danger of splitting the wood
c) Plywood can be bent more readily than solid wood

d) Plywood panels can be built to any size, while wood

is limited to the width of the tree

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5.0 Sheet materials
Advantages of Plywood:

d) Plywood minimizes the tendency of wood to buckle

or twist due to changes in moisture content
e) Under normal use plywood will not shrink or swell
appreciably
f) Plywood has a greater strength across the grain than
solid wood of the same thickness and checking and
splitting is negligible

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5.0 Sheet materials

2) Blockboard

a) Blockboard consists of a core of wood made from

strips up to 25 mm wide

b) They are placed together with or without glue

between each strip to form a slab with their grain
direction at right angles to the grain of the core

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5.0 Sheet materials

3) Laminboard

a) It is similar to blockboard, except the core strips

are narrower.
b) The core is built up from strips of wood glued
together face to form a slab.
c) It is heavier than blockboard, since more glue and

in some cases denser timbers are used in its

construction and its greater cost

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5.0 Sheet materials

4) Hardboard

a) Hardboard panels are made of wood fibres.

b) The Wood chips are broken down into individual
fibres
c) Then formed into mat and compressed by hot
presses into a dry board.

It is denser, more durable and resistant to water

absorption than other wood composition boards.
Hardboard is available in a variety of finishes and
thickness (3 to 12 mm)
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5.0 Sheet materials

5) Chipboard

a) Made from dry wood chips which are bonded

together by pressure and heat with a resin bond.
b) The size and type of the chips used determines the
textures and properties of the board.
c) The manufacture of chipboard is similar to
hardboard except that the binder is some type of
resin that is resistant to decay and to termite
attack.
d) Hardness and acid resistance are also increased
and at the same time, the wood becomes more
brittle.
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Uses: Flooring, wall, ceiling linings and furniture
5.0 Sheet materials

6) Plasterboard

a) It consists of an aerated gypsum core sandwiched

between and bonded to strong paper liners.
b) Most boards have one ivory-colored surface for
direct decoration and one grey-colored surface
which has better adhesion properties for
plastering.

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REFERANCE

BCA Academy text book – Construction Materials

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