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

This is the eighth 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'll see some full shots of the house including a picture of the house after the scaffolding was removed after TufShield™ had been completely applied so you can get a sense of the size of the whole building project.

These shots show the house after TufShield™ had already been applied to the exterior of the building and in particular to the wood on the top half of the home exterior, the window frames and to the wooden railings and support beams.

To the above right you will see an exterior shot of the front of the home before the scaffolding had been removed. Just a reminder, all external and internal wood used on the home was finished with 4 coats of TufShield™ Base Coat followed by either 2 coats of Top Coat Satin or 2 coats of Top Coat Gloss.

Most of the wood used on the entire project was finished with the Top Coat Satin and in these series of blogs we are showing examples of both the Satin and Gloss finishes so you can see the difference. In fact, the next blog will show outdoor wood furniture finished with Gloss.








To the left is a picture of the exterior of the rear of the home before the scaffolding had been removed.













Here is a picture of the front of the home after the scaffolding has been removed. The TufShield™-treated wood is visible on the top half of the exterior of the home as well as the teak window frames and wooden support beams.







In Chiang Mai - the region of northern Thailand where this home is being built - day temperatures stay fairly consistent year-round between 28°C-34°C (82°F-93°F). This region gets over 1,120 mm (44 in) of rain each year so TufShield™ will protect against both the sun - and more specifically the damaging effects of UV - as well as the significant precipitation that the wood will be subjected to.

As always, you can click on any of the above pictures to blow them up to see the wood in greater detail.

In the next blog we'll show some pictures of outdoor teak furniture that has been finished with TufShield™ Top Coat Gloss that will be used by the homeowners outside the house.

Labels: exterior, thailand, wood home

This is the seventh 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'll see some shots of antique wooden doors that were used in the home including the first shot to the right which shows one of the staff members cleaning a pair of Indian teak doors that are over 150 years old!

The Indian doors were previously coated with a blue and beige paint over the entire door - you can still see chips of the paint visible on both doors - but over time the paint eroded. The home owners wanted to maintain the total antique feeling of the colours so they left the paint remnants intact on the doors. By applying the TufShield™ Base Coat and then Top Coat Satin over top, it effectively "locked" in these colours and antique look while protecting the paint from eroding further and protecting the wood at the same time. In the words of the home owner regarding the final result:

"It came out fantastic!"










To the left, you'll see the doors after they've been finished with TufShield™. The wood has achieved a darker brown look without taking away from the antique look.

The doors are now protected against the elements with the standard TufShield™ application of 4 coats of Base Coat and 2 coats of Top Coat Satin.








All the pictures you will see below are of other antique wood doors that have all been finished with TufShield™ Base Coat (4 coats) followed by 2 coats of Top Coat Satin.











Here is a shot of a pair of 90-year-old teak wooden front doors that have been completely finished with TufShield™ but not yet installed.




















Here is a close up of one of the antique teak front doors that you just saw above.



















Here is a shot of the 150-year old Indian teak doors after having been installed.























Here is a shot of the two 90-year old antique doors after having been installed.













As always, you can click on any picture to blow it up and see it in greater detail.

In our next blog, we'll see additional photos of the finished wood as the house is being completed.

Labels: antique, front door, thailand, wooden doors

This is the sixth 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.

For this blog entry we'll go inside the house and see some closeup shots of teak that has been completely finished with TufShield™. Specifically, this wood that has been finished with 4 coats of Base Coat and 2 coats of Top Coat Satin.

To the right, you'll see the finished teak bannister.











Here is another shot of the teak bannister. You can see the floor (made of maka wood) that has also been finished with TufShield™.


















Here is a closeup shot of a completely finished teak window. Back in the January 13 blog entry, we saw some close up shots of the teak window after the rub stain had been applied.




















Here is a shot of one of the teak ceiling beams that has been completely finished with TufShield™.















This external teak door has been finished with TufShield™ but hasn't yet been installed. This was a brand new door which was previously unfinished.

Back in "Thailand Wooden Home Project Blog #3" on January 15, we showed pictures of several teak doors like this one being treated with the TufShield™ Base Coat after they had already had the dark rub stain applied.








For our next blog entry, we'll show some recent pictures of the house as it continues to be finished with TufShield™. We'll include some pictures of some additional antique wood that was used in the home including a 150 year old Indian door set with before and after shots.

Labels: banister, bannister, base coat, ceiling beam, finished, satin, thailand, wooden home

This is the fifth 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'll showcase some of the wood after being treated with TufShield™ Top Coat Satin. In other words, these are completely finished pieces of wood!

As covered in previous posts, all wood was treated with a dark rub stain to bring out a dark, rich brown colour. The wood was then treated with 4 coats of TufShield™ Base Coat which is the standard recommended application. The final step is the use of the TufShield™ top coat which is what we'll see in this blog entry. The Top Coats are available in both Satin and Gloss and Satin was chosen for this home project.

To the right, you'll see a close up shot of the wooden sunscreen which was also shown in earlier blogs when it was untreated and bare, after the wood rub stain had been added and then when it had been coated with the Base Coat.

This is what the sunscreen looks like in its finished state with the Top Coat Satin applied.






Here is another shot of the wooden sunscreen after being coated with Top Coat Satin.

















Here is a closeup shot of a finished wooden teak window after having the Top Coat Satin applied. Earlier blog entries show the teak windows with the wood rub stain so you can see the difference after the Base Coat and Top Coat Satin were applied.















Here is a closeup shot of the completed wood screen that has been finished with TufShield™ Top Coat Satin.










For our next blog entry, we'll show some additional closeup pictures of parts of the house that have been completely finished with TufShield™.

Labels: satin, sunscreen, thailand, wooden home

This is the fourth 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.

As mentioned in the first blog on this project back on January 9, we said that antique wood was used in the building of this home and in this blog, we're going to see some of the antique wood with the Base Coat already applied.

To the right, you'll see an example of an antique door being used in the new home that has been treated with 4 coats of TufShield™ Base Coat.











To the left, you'll see a set of two antique front doors that have been treated with 4 coats of Base Coat.

In a future blog, we'll see what the doors look like after receiving the final 2 coats of Top Coat Satin to finish them off.

















To the right is another antique door after receiving 4 coats of Base Coat.

The home owners particularly liked the fact that while using TufShield™ would help protect the wood from the elements, it didn't take away from the antique look of the wood such as the antique door shown here.








As an FYI, the Base Coats were drying quite quickly, in around 30 minutes, due to the warm temperature they were being applied in. Drying times will vary based on drying conditions of course and the conditions in this instance were very favourable.

To increase the drying time if the Base Coat is drying too quickly, you can always use the TS Reducer thinner to increase the wet edge, as per instructions on the product labels.

For our next blog entry, we'll show wood on the home after being treated with TufShield™ Top Coat Satin.

Labels: antique, door, thailand, tufshield

This is the third 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.

The January 13 blog entry shows pictures of the second step of the project, which involved using a dark rub stain on the wood.

The third step of the project will be shown today, which involves treating the wood with the TufShield™ Base Coat. The Base Coat is going right over top of the dark rub stain which had been previously applied. Just to remind you, all wood will receive 4 coats of Base Coat which is the standard recommended TufShield™ application.

As discussed in the January 9 entry, Thailand weather is tropical with fairly consistent year-round temperatures between 28°C-34°C (82°F-93°F). The wood will face extreme UV exposure as well as rain (especially during the rainy season) and thus mildew/mold potential too. The Base Coat saturates into the wood and forms a permanent but flexible shield - hence the name TufShield™! - which will protect against the elements.

The first picture to the above right shows one of the staff applying the Base Coat to the wooden sunscreen that we showed back in the January 9 blog entry when it was untreated so you can see the difference in colour!






Here is a second picture of the wooden sunscreen for a closer look at the Base Coat being applied.
















Here is a picture of a staff member applying the Base Coat over top of the rub stain on a teak door.

The Base Coat is obviously still wet but notice how the Base Coat helps to bring out an even richer dark brown colour.













As always, you can click on any picture to enlarge it.

For our next blog entry, we'll show antique wooden doors that are being used in the home after they were treated with TufShield™ Base Coat. In future blogs, we'll then show the final result after these same doors have been finished with Top Coat Satin.

Labels: base coat, thailand, wood home

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

This is the first in what will be a series of blogs regarding a wooden home being built in Chiang Mai, Thailand (the capital of northern Thailand) that is being finished with TufShield™. In this entry, we’ll introduce you to the project, show some preliminary pictures of the home being built as well as some pictures of TufShield™ being applied.

Check back frequently as we’ll be adding more pictures and updates regularly as the home is being built and finished. In future blogs, we'll include pictures of TufShield™ being applied as well as pictures of the dark rub stain being applied to most of the wood (to give a dark, rich looking shade to the wood) before TufShield™ is applied over top.

Needless to say, a wooden home built in a tropical climate like Thailand requires a wood finish that will protect against the elements, namely UV (Ultra Violet) light, humidity and rain among others.



In Thailand, day temperatures stay fairly consistent year-round between 28°C-34°C (82°F-93°F), but humidity drops from November to February and morning/evening temperatures can be between 15°C-20°C (59°F-68°F) during this time of year.

Most of the new wood being used in the project is teak, except for the floor which is made of maka. Maka is a rare wood that is considered more economical than teak and is known for its sturdiness and durability. The home also features old teak pillars on the outside which are on average between 30 - 80 years old.

The home also features a number of antique wood components all of which are also being treated with TufShield™. The antique doors are about 90 years old and the Base Coat was applied over top of not only the teak wood but also over all the iron fixtures to give added protection at the joints. It applied just fine over these areas and will no doubt protect against the weathering.















All exterior wood on the home is being protected with TufShield™ due to the extreme UV exposure, as well as rain (especially during the rainy season) and thus mildew/mold potential.

As mentioned above, almost all of the wood in the project is first treated with a dark rub stain and then treated with the Base Coat over top - to give a dark, rich looking shade to the wood.

In terms of the TufShield™ application itself, the Base Coat was applied at various times during the day and drying time seemed to be fairly consistent around 30 minutes tops. This is quite fast but given the high temperature and warm conditions during the application this is not surprising. Some parts of the house will be shaded conditions so they won't be in direct sunlight but much of the house will have the sun's rays beating down regularly.

All exterior teak was treated with 4 Base Coats and 2 Top Coats ratio which is the standard recommended TufShield™ application.

Check back regularly as we’ll be adding new pictures of the project as it’s being completed. Our next update will show pictures of the dark rub being applied to the wood prior to being treated with TufShield™.

Description of pictures in order of appearance:

1. Scaffolding including untreated wood sunscreen
2. Untreated wood sunscreen
3. Untreated outdoor teak pole
4. Untreated indoor stairs and railings
5. Untreated outdoor teak doorframe

As always, you can click on any picture to enlarge it.

Labels: thailand, tufshield, 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