[Greenbuilding] Timbersil (and alternatives to)

[JOHN SALMEN]

One of the main reasons for using a manufactured silicate treated wood
product is to either satisfy a code requirement for a preservative treated
wood (a requirement in Canada for termite zones) or to comply with a class I
or A fire rating.  Unlikely an inspector will take your word for it. You may
want to treat wood yourself for your own peace of mind but then the question
becomes how effective is the treatment?

 

It may be effective for exposed wood but it can also leach out of the wood.
I could see using it to improve termite resistance but since I couldn't rely
on it I would use some other kind of barrier.

 

I use it and other silicates in paint mixtures (clay, lime, casein kind of
things) and have used it on concrete. I could see using it as a surface
hardener for some wood but since it affects colour and reacts with some
paints and finishes I probably would use a harder wood to begin with. 

 

I think it is a pretty useful product and I use it when I have no choice
(building sills in some situations) but it is a product that encourages
people to put wood where it probably shouldn't be used.  

 

From: greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org
[mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of RT
Sent: April 8, 2011 2:15 PM
To: Green Building
Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] Timbersil (and alternatives to)

 

On Fri, 08 Apr 2011 15:17:00 -0400, Alan Abrams 
<alan at abramsdesignbuild.com> wrote:
>
> is this material crisp and stable enough for detailed cornice work?
>
> On Fri, Apr 8, 2011 at 11:05 AM, Sigi Koko <sigikoko at earthlink.net> 
> wrote:

>> Timbersil

>> In terms of ordering, if there isn't a
>> distributor near you, you should be able to approach a local lumber mill
>> and order through them.


If the Timbersil (TM) product isn't locally produced then it would seem to 
make sense to use local lumber and simply soak it in a saturated solution 
of sodium silicate which is relatively easy to make out of readily 
available materials (ie water, silica, sodium hydroxide), and then sticker 
the treated wood until it has dried.

That way, one would be able to use locally-harvested salvaged lumber and 
you'd have an up-close/personal view of the consequences of your material 
choice (ie sodium hydroxide isn't exactly friendly stuff).  In NYC, that 
lumber would likely be pallet wood, wooden pallets being a major disposal 
problem in urban centres. (This being the *Green* building list, not the 
Home Despot building list).

But speaking of fancy cornices...

Rather than build it up out of a gazillion pieces of increasingly-rare 
clear lumber, perhaps it might be made of cement or lime plaster, possibly 
with pigment integrated into the plaster mix so that painting would never 
be required , and with whatever lightweight aggregates and fibrous 
admixtures your heart desires to achieve the performance characteristics 
you'd like ?

The simplest way would be to make a scraper that is cut to the profile of 
the proposed cornice and pull it along the still-plastic mud, a process 
not unlike what carpenters used to do when making wooden mouldings and 
cornices, with a series of moulding planes, often self-made. (Yes, been 
there, done that.)



--
=== * ===
Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada
< A r c h i L o g i c  at  Y a h o o  dot  c a >
manually winnow the chaff from my edress if you hit "reply"

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