This is the ninth in an ongoing series of blogs related to a wooden home project in Chiang Mai, Thailand (the capital of northern Thailand) that is being finished with TufShield™. You can refer to the first blog entry regarding this project on January 9 to learn about the project background and to see some pictures of the untreated wood and the home itself as it's being built.

In Thailand Wooden Home Project blogs 1 - 8, we shown various pictures of the actual house itself as it's being built and as it's being finished with TufShield™. As noted throughout the previous 8 blogs the wood has been finished with 4 coats of TufShield™ Base Coat followed by 2 coats of Top Coat Satin.

In this blog, we'll change gears a bit and show some pictures of outdoor teak furniture that will be used by the homeowners around the house that has been finished with 4 coats of TufShield™ Base Coat followed by 2 coats of Top Coat Gloss. The furniture had previously been unfinished.

To the right you'll see a picture of a set of teak benches and a teak table that have already been finished with TufShield™. You can see TufShield™ cans resting on top of the table.











To the left is a closer look at the teak table. You can see the glossy finish that was achieved.






















Here is a closer look at one of the teak benches after being finished with TufShield™.



















Here is a close up shot of the backrest of one of the teak benches. You can see the texture of the wooden backrest is much different than the smooth wood used on the seat and legs.














To the right is a front facing shot of one of the teak benches.

















Here is another shot of the benches and table together from a different angle.















To the right is a close up shot of the teak table with the TufShield™ product cans resting on top.

Labels: bench, exterior, furniture, gloss, table, teak, thailand

Below you'll see the "before TufShield™" teak chair on the left and the "after TufShield™" teak chair on the right from a blog entry back on May 7, 2008.


Back on May 7, 2008 we posted a blog entry showing an old weathered teak patio chair on the left and another teak chair on the right of the same design and age that had been treated with TufShield™ (the same picture is shown above). As this furniture is left outside all year, it experiences the harsh winters that we tend to get in the northern parts of North America.

Of course, the furniture will also experience some nice warm weather (and the UV rays that come with it) in the summer.

Below, you'll see a picture that shows both chairs (now both treated with TufShield™) along with a matching teak side table (also treated with TufShield™) that are currently sitting outside braving the winter elements.

EXTREME COLD TEMPERATURES: A deep freeze was experienced throughout parts of North America during the second week of January.

During the week of January 12-18 when the following picture was taken, the temperature bottomed out at -26°C (-15°F) overnight and only went up to -10°C (14°F) during the day so this patio furniture experienced extremely cold temperatures for extended periods (not to mention a pile of snow on top, as the picture shows).


Check back in the spring for some close up shots of the chairs and table to see how the TufShield™ finish held up following one full year of being outside.

Labels: freezing, furniture, patio, snow, teak, winter

This is the second in an ongoing series of blogs related to a wooden home project in Chiang Mai, Thailand (the capital of northern Thailand) that is being finished with TufShield™. You can refer to the first blog entry regarding this project on January 9 to learn about the project background and to see some pictures of the untreated wood and the home itself as it's being built.

In this entry, we're going to see pictures of the wood being treated with a wood stain. As mentioned in the first blog, almost all of the wood in the project is being treated with a dark rub stain to give a dark, rich looking shade to the wood.

TufShield™ Base Coat will then be applied over top of the stain once it has dried and TufShield™ Top Coat Satin will be applied as the finishing coat.

The first picture to the right shows the dark rub stain being applied to one of the doors.











Here is a doorframe that has been treated with the dark rub stain. Notice how dark the finish is compared with some of the untreated wood that we saw back in Thailand Wooden Home Project Blog #1 from January 9.



















Here is a closeup picture of a wooden doorframe that has been treated with the dark rub stain.





















Here is a picture of a teak window with the dark rub stain already applied.

In future posts, we'll see some of the teak windows after they've been finished with TufShield™ too.












Just to recap, the dark rub stain was applied to give the untreated wood a dark rich brown colour. TufShield™ products will then be applied over top of the rub stain to protect the wood. Since the house is located in Thailand, it will be subjected to a number of elements not the least of which will be the beating sun (UV rays) as well as rain (especially during the rainy season).

For our next blog entry, we'll show the wood being treated with TufShield™ Base Coat. The wood being treated is going to get 4 coats of Base Coat and then 2 coats of Top Coat Satin to finish it off so stay tuned for pictures of the ongoing progress.

Labels: rub stain, teak, thailand, tufshield, wood house, wooden home

TufShield™ is in the process of shipping its first international shipment to a customer in Thailand to use on their newly built wooden home! The house is largely built with teak and maka.

Teak is a durable hardwood that has remained a popular choice for marine and shipbuilding applications for over 150 years and is a popular option in the building and furniture trades too. Maka is a rarer wood that is popular in Thailand and other Asian countries and is known for being a sturdy and durable hardwood. The builder has promised us some pictures of the house before and after being treated with TufShield™ so check back over the next few months for some pictures of the project!

UPDATE: Check out the blogs on this wooden home project that began on January 9, 2009. We are including a series of blogs that discuss this wooden home and show pictures as it's being built and being treated with TufShield™!

Labels: maka, teak, thailand, wood house

Further to the May 7 blog posting, check out the picture to the left hand side which shows the difference between the untreated chair on the left hand side and the TufShield™- treated chair on the right side following a rain storm. The untreated chair absorbed the rain water while the TufShield™-treated chair repelled the water. After taking this picture, I simply wiped off some of the water and the rest dried quite quickly once the weather improved.

Water beading on a wax-based finish doesn't necessarily prove anything but TufShield™ is not a wax-based finish. The Base Coat converts the wood into a stabilized substrate, saturating deep inside the wood, solidifying with the wood fibers and forming a tough but flexible shield. The Top Coat (Gloss or Satin) that is applied over top is actually applied to the Base Coat, not to the wood! The sacrificial Top Coat doesn't actually come into contact with the wood because it is covered by the Base Coat shield.

Labels: beading, chair, furniture, teak