You have gone to great lengths to get every detail right in your new home. You chose the right architect, the right builder, the right finishes and colors. But have you chosen the right structural wood components? Are they protected from the threat of fungus, rot and termites? If not, they should be, because these very real threats, if ignored, can put your entire living investment at risk.
Perfect Barrier's state-of-the-art two-step treatment process can accommodate a variety of wood pieces and material components, including Yellow Pine, Spruce (SPF), Ponderosa Pine, Douglas Fir, White Wood and Hem - Fir. Engineered products such as plywood, OSB, LVL’s, parallams, roof and floor trusses and wooden I Joists can also be treated with Perfect Barrier.
Fungus and Mold Protection
Mold
spores will not grow into mold colonies if there is insufficient moisture. If
organic materials are wet for more than 24 hours, mold growth will occur.
Mold growth is often the result of a structural or construction defect that
allows moisture to enter the building materials of a home, creating a potentially
toxic environment inside of your home.
During construction mold grows by eating and destroying organic building materials and other cellulose-based materials. The longer that mold grows, the more mold damage to the materials and the building.
Every day, builders face the challenge of controlling moisture at the job site. Weather conditions, roof ventilation, HVAC and condensation problems introduce unwanted moisture to wood building components. Building materials alone can introduce up to five tons of moisture to a structure.
Even after a home is built the threat continues; high humidity, leaking
roofs and plumbing and high levels of moisture in your home’s framing
that might have been exposed to weather during the construction. Average
humidity levels in the Southeastern U.S. are often above 70% all year. Mold
and rot flourish in these conditions. Termites also need moisture to survive.
Anyone choosing to build a new home should consider one other option
before construction begins. They should choose to have a home with a
powerful built-in defense against excess moisture and its potentially devastating
effects on wood. This is even more critical for homes in the southeast,
where high humidity levels are the norm. A properly constructed building
envelope is designed to keep the inside of your home dry (including the
interior and concealed building spaces) to stop mold spores from becoming
active. This building envelope should also insure that wood products
quickly achieve and remain at a moisture level that will not support
mold growth.
The solution is BluWood®, lumber treated with a unique,
two-step technology called the Perfect Barrier System. BluWood components
are protected against the devastating consequences to wood of fungal and
termite infestation. Perfect Barrier’s system totally encapsulates
wood substrates to form a subsurface water-repellant, vapor permeable film.
The film controls the wood's moisture absorption capabilities while allowing
moisture vapor to escape. The wood continues to breathe, maintaining normal
moisture levels. The Infusion Film is also treated to resist mold growth
on the dried surface of the film.
Before you build, make sure to ask your builder or lumber supplier to use BluWood for all framing lumber, trusses and sheathing components.
Termite Protection
BluWood's protection against infestation and damage by rot fungi and wood
destroying insects comes from the Perfect Barrier System's DOT Wood Preservative.
The DOT Wood Preservative contains a borate solution with insecticidal/fungicidal
properties, providing guaranteed protection from costly damage by rot fungi
and wood ingesting insects, including Formosan termites.
Typically only a small percentage of the wood components in a home are protected
from rot fungi and wood destroying insects (termites). The Perfect Barrier System's
DOT Wood Preservative can expand this valuable protection to include all of the
wood framing, trusses, rafters and sheathing components.