Effects of Nature on Wood Products
Following Atrium’s storage, maintenance, and finishing Instructions will
greatly reduce the effects of humidity and sunlight.
Variation in appearance:
Wood, being a natural material, varies in color, texture, and figure. These
variations are created by the different layers of wood between the outer portion
of the tree that transfers sap and, the inner portion that fills with natural
deposits. Any manufacturer cannot control this natural growing process.
In time, wood will change color as it is subjected to typical ambient
conditions. Stains and/or clear topcoats may slow this process but will not stop
it.
Low Humidity:
Subjecting wood products to humidity levels lower than 25% relative humidity
will cause the dry air to draw moisture from the wood. This actually causes wood
to shrink. Wood’s shrinking characteristics are anisotropic. Meaning, wood
shrinks most in the direction of its annual rings. This creates wood to warp,
cup, and bow.
A door panel made of wood, will shrink causing hardware not to operate
properly. The door panel will not set properly against any weather stripping
causing an Atrium Door unit to leak. The gap between the door panel and the
frame will also increase to an amount where light could be seen between the door
and frame or between two door panels.
High Humidity:
Subjecting wood products to humidity levels higher than 55% relative humidity
will cause the wood to draw the excess moisture from the air. This actually
causes the wood to swell.
A door panel made of wood will swell causing them to not close properly by
binding with the frame in which they are hung.
Sudden Change in Humidity:
Any wood product subjected to sudden changes in humidity causes the wood to
either absorb or release moisture at a rate that will cause the wood to react
with an extreme characteristic of either low or high humidity.
Sunlight:
Sunlight accelerates the bleaching and oxidation process in wood. Stains and/or
clear topcoats may slow this process but will not stop it. Dark stains are not
recommended on any wood product.
Dark stains absorb harmful UV rays, which will cause any wood product to loose
its optimal moisture
content, causing the product to react with the extreme
characteristics of low humidity.
On veneered
components, the veneer will be subjected to the harmful UV rays
while the substrate is not. This will cause the
veneer to loose its optimal
moisture content while the substrate will not. The
veneer will begin to
check, blister, and
delaminate.
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