Moisture content in pine wood and fir wood exterior joinery

Chemically untreated pine wood and fir wood L-joints coated with referent white alkyd paint were exposed outdoors for one year according to EN 330 at two different climatic sites: Garston (United Kingdom) and Zagreb (Croatia). Pine wood is the standard referent species for testing the exterior joinery and fir wood is the most frequently used species in the Croatian joinery industry. The aim of the work was to establish the difference between these two species considering the moisture content (MC), permeability and bacterial and fungal infection and colonisation during exposure. In this article only moisture contents as the main factors of microbial activity and permeability are presented. The complete results of the research, are being prepared for publishing. The fir wood L-joints mostly had lower MC than the pine L-joints at the same positions and site during exposure. In regard to the exposure sites, the differences are larger in Garston than in Zagreb, particularly at the end of exposure. This fact is ascribed to lower natural permeability of fir wood than pine wood, which was emphasised by the specific climatic characteristics of exposure sites. The results indicate that fir sapwood L-joints could also be used in further investigations of home made joinery, wood preservatives and coats.