However, according to The Financial Times, timber is fast becoming the material of the future and is now becoming increasingly popular with those in the building trade due to exciting developments within the timber industry.
A recent article refers to a range of ‘engineered’ timber products that have been used for decades in and around Europe which are now beginning to take hold in the UK. For these products, both preservative and fire retardant industrial pre-treatments help to improve the durability and safety performance and give designers and specifiers a real confidence in timber’s compliance to building regulations and requirements. They also allow sustainable, abundant and easily replenished softwood species to be utilised to their maximum potential.
John White, Chief Executive of the UK Timber Trade Federation, says, ‘it’s an exciting time for wood. People like it for its sustainability, that it is a renewable resource and does not have to be manufactured’.
The most innovative of these engineered products, are modified timbers - softwoods that have been altered, so that the finished timber product becomes a new choice for a variety of applications, usually replacing tropical hardwoods.
Arch Timber Protection’s new building material, KEYWOOD, is one of these modified timber products, fast-becoming an innovation within the construction industry and offers infinite building possibilities, including cladding, decking, joinery, flooring and furniture applications. By utilising the very latest modification technology, KEYWOOD locks in all the benefits of beautiful radiata pine to produce a durable, versatile and sustainable material for future building projects, including schools, public buildings and private housing. Uniquely, KEYWOOD is transformed by introducing a biomass based resin during an industrial treatment process called resinification.
In 2010, Arch has also introduced two other innovative timber protection choices. TANALISED Clear pressure treated timber is a new generation preservative launched by Arch earlier this year. Up until now the only options to preserve outdoor timbers have been in green and brown colour options. New TANALISED Clear pressure treated timber is protected by TANALITH M, a clear wood preservative. The treatment does not alter the appearance of the natural timber and is extremely effective at preventing the development of staining fungi, thereby helping to maintain the clean and fresh appeal of cladding, decking and garden building timbers for longer.
VACSOL FR Fire Retardant framing timbers bring a new safety solution to the construction phase of building developments. Timber frame continues to grow in popularity as a versatile and sustainable form of construction and VACSOL FR framing timbers afford two forms of protection, preservative and fire retardancy. Constructions have an immediate benefit from using the product as a component of on-site fire safety management. Alongside various site safety recommendations that have been highlighted by the UKTFA, VACSOL FR provides an added and proven reassurance that allows extra time for people to evacuate a construction site and more scope for fire fighters to respond and limit any damage should a fire occur. Once the building in complete, the framing timbers also have a built-in long-term protection against decay and insect attack.
To download the KEYWOOD Specifiers Guide, please click here.
To download the TANALISED Clear Specifiers Guide, please click here.
To download the VACSOL FR Specifiers Guide, please click here.
