Key focuses for its cladding offer at leading French timber and wood products supplier PiveteauBois have been specifier and client concerns about the greying of products, use of stains and fire safety.
The company is among France’s foremost specialists in Douglas fir products, with the species becoming the principal substitute in cladding for embargoed Siberian larch.
“In fact, Douglas fir now accounts for 60% of technical solutions for cladding in the country,” said PiveteauBois UK and Ireland sales director Elisabeth Piveteau. “It has inherent advantages in terms of environmental credentials and technical performance. It is a very common species in the French forest, extensively planted after WWII, and stands are now mature at 60-70 years old, so it’s the ideal time to harvest. French Douglas is naturally durable and use class 3.2, with the heartwood comprising 90% of the timber the sapwood, treated for warranty purposes, only 10%.”
In the past the market preference was mainly for cladding finished with opaque stains to ensure a uniform long-term appearance. But changing tastes and environmental concerns about certain finishes have seen the situation change, and today stained cladding comprises just 5% to 10% of the French market.
Left in its natural form in exterior applications, the timber silvers and this of course can vary around a building exterior according to aspect, creating an uneven and many consider an unsightly appearance. The most popular and, says Piveteaubois, effective solution has been pressuretreatment using grey and brown colour impregnation.
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