Wood is not only a natural building material, but also a very durable building material if cared for properly. For this reason, many hobby gardeners use it for their garden house at home: the wooden house has a warm, natural look and the building material ensures a pleasant indoor climate. However, so that the joy of your “room in the countryside” is not spoiled, you should think about proper wood care before construction. With these protection and care tips for wood, it will stay beautiful in the long term!
Protection and care tips for wooden garden houses
There are a few factors that you should consider before or during the construction phase in order to extend the lifespan of your garden shed:
– Pay attention to onestable foundationwithout depressions or indentations as well as good insulation against moisture and cold from the subsurface.
– Make sure that on theIf possible, there should be no windows or doors on the weather side of the housebecause they offer a particularly good surface for attack.
– Be sure to treat the woodbefore construction with wood protection or wood care products, so that the later connection points are also adequately protected.
Wood protection vs. wood care: How much protection does the garden shed need?
Holzpflege © photo clip
Many hobby gardeners are confused about how wood care differs from wood protection and which of the corresponding products is suitable for their particular type of wood. In fact, a real “wood protection” product is a product with chemical ingredients that penetrate deep into the wood and are therefore a mandatory measure in load-bearing structures. These products are divided into classes:Wood preservative with insect repellentEffect and in the so-called„Schwammsperrmittel“, which protect the wood from the dangerous blue stain fungus. Both product classes require approval.
Wood protection with chemical ingredients is by no means necessary for garden houses - especially since the corresponding products are not even available to laypeople. The most important thing here is thisphysical protection from various weather influencessuch as strong UV radiation, extreme heat, cold and humidity. The best way to protect your garden house from these “natural enemies” is to properly care for the wood right from the start and, if in doubt, use varnishes, glazes or wood paints to give your house an additional layer of protection.
Care tips for wood:Oil or varnish?
When it comes to wood care, varnish is often cited as the best protection option. In fact, although the varnish protects the wood from sunlight and moisture, it does not contain any nourishing ingredients that would benefit the wood itself. For this reason, any type of wood should always be treated with a care oil before applying varnish.
The effects of the different products
Between varnishes, glazes and paints: Which wood protection for which wood?
There are types of wood such as the tropical varietiesBangkirai und Teak, whose species' own active ingredients make them resistant to blue stain fungi and many types of insects. Thanks to the growing international interest in theecological sustainabilityHowever, many garden houses today are made from local wood - for example the Palmako version made from Nordic spruce. Native species such asSpruce, pine, oak and sweet chestnut, which are often used for garden houses, do not have the appropriate essential oils and therefore usually require further protection in addition to pre-treatment with care oils.
And this is how you care for the wood: Basically, all wood requires appropriate care and appropriate weather protection. However, it is possible to divide it into:Weichhölzerlike spruce and pine and inHarthölzersuch as oak and chestnut, as they each have different species-specific resistance to pest infestation and weather influences. For more precise classification, the different types of wood are divided into so-called “durability classes”, which show exactly which types of wood are naturally very resistant and which types require additional protection through appropriate coatings.
A glaze that protects against normal weather influences and in which the natural grain of the wood remains visible is often sufficient for hardwoods (More tips for long-term wood protection here). A possible alternative to the “simple” glaze is the “wood protection glaze”, which also contains biocides that protect the surface of the wood from fungal and insect attack. In addition to the glaze, you should treat softwoods with a varnish or an oil-based wood paint, as these protect against UV radiation, moisture and strong heat. Both the varnish and the wood color cover the natural grain of the wood - but if you choose an open-pore wood color as the paint, the wood can still breathe underneath the color.
Conclusion: set your own priorities
Which wood protection or wood care you give your garden house is ultimately up to you. However, it is important that you are clear aboutwhat type of wood you are using and what specific requirements this type has for its environment. In any case, you should ensure that you treat it adequately with care oil before painting - and if you paint, make sure to renew the paint regularly.
