WOOD DECOMPOSITION

The decomposition of wood is a complicated process that involved several biotic and abiotic
factors. It starts with the presence of microorganism and fungus in the unprotected wood and
follow by its deterioration. The microorganism that is mainly responsible for its deterioration
are fungi, bacteria, insects and marine borers.

Fungi is one of the main agent that can cause wood decomposition. Excessive moisture above
fibre saturation point is required for the fungal to establish its presence inside the wood. They
can be classified according to type of decomposition which are brown rot, white rot and soft
rot. The damage to wood cause by fungus can be linked to three causes which is lack of
suitable protective measure during storage, improper handling of raw materials and failure of
precaution in final product.

In brown rot, the cellulose is removed which cause the discoloration of wood and lead to
cracking, shrinkage and can be crushed into powder. It commonly affects softwood. In white
rot, both lignin and cellulose are removed which cause discoloration of wood into white.
White rot also commonly affect hardwood. The difference with brown rot is that the wood
does not crack and shrink while still retaining its outer appearance. Soft rot is less commonly
known and it caused by fungi related to mold. The wood cause by soft rot is shallow and
mostly affect outer surface. The decomposition of wood by fungi initially affect the
toughness of wood and followed by reduction in strength values. Several prevention methods
can be implemented to prevent mold, stain and decay such as storage of log in water or
application of preservatives sprays to logs for protection within 2 to 3 months.

Bacteria is also another factor that cause wood decomposition. Wood that is wet and left
outside for months create a perfect condition for bacterial growth. Bacteria cause the wood to
absorb excessive moisture, adhesive, paint or preservatives which make it into a problem
during manufacturing process.

Another factor that cause wood decomposition is insect. Example of such insects are beetles,
termites, carpenter ants and carpenter bees. Bark beetle cause damage to surface of logs
component. It also causes damage to inner wood which loosen the bark and cause it to fall off
in large patches. Prevention can be taken such as debarking the log rapidly, sprayed with
approved insecticidal solution or stored in water. Termites another insect that cause wood
decay and it can be classified into subterranean termites and non subterranean termites.
Subterranean termites are the most common causes of damage to wood structures. Wood
structure looks normal on outside but it inside structure have the chewed appearance and
contribute to its fragility. Prevention can be done such as the foundation should be concrete
and impenetrable to termites, and if there is basement it should be floored with concrete.
Carpenter ants is also one of the insect that contribute to wood decomposition. They can be
easily recognized by huge size than other ants. The ants typically used wood for shelter and
damage is done when they burrow inside the wood structures to create their nest. Prevention
of such attacks are similar to termites where the wood that are affected should be put away or
any foundation building with holes from ants are sealed. Besides that, carpenter bees is
another insect that cause wood damage. The bees do not live in colonies; they bore a tunnel
inside a wood to lay egg while disrupting the cosmetic appearance of wood. It can be
prevented by using insecticide or coating the wood with carpenter’s glue.
WOOD PRESERVATION

Wood products can be protected from attack of fungi, harmful insects or marine borer by
applying chemical preservatives. Preservatives increase the lifespan of wood structure for a
lengthy period of time while also reducing cost. There are two broad criteria that wood
preservatives must have which is they must provide wood protection in the intended use and
the protection its provided does not pose risk to people or environment. Due to the its nature
of being a part of pesticide, wood preservatives used is regulated by US Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and its properties are evaluated by American Wood Protection
Association (AWPA). Wood preservative can be classified into two classes which is oil type
preservatives and waterborne preservatives.

Waterborne preservatives are often used when cleanliness and painting of treated wood are
necessary. The formulation exhibits high resistance to leaching and very good performance in
service. They are used in items such as lumber, timber, posts, building foundation and piling.
Acid copper chromate is waterborne preservative which contain copper oxide and chromium
trioxide and they are most often used for treatment of wood in cooling towers. Another one is
ammoniacal copper zinc arsenate which is commonly used on west coast of north America
for treatment of douglas fir. Chromate copper arsenate is another commonly used waterborne
preservative in the past until 2004 where they regulation was modified and this preservative
is only used for industrial applications. The other waterborne preservative which are also
used is alkaline copper DCOI, copper bisdimethyldithicarbamate, copper azole and copper
napthenate.

Oil borne preservatives are one of the oldest preservative and still being conitnusly used in
many applications. Wood treated with these preservatives does not swell, glued satisfactorily
and cleaner. Coal tar is an oil based preservative that has several advantages such as toxic to
wood destroying organism and ease of application. However, it has several disadvantages
such as the color cannot be painted satisfactorily and the odor is harmful to living organism
thus the application of this preservative is only for pressure treatment facilities. The other oil
based wood preservatives are copper naphtenate. It is effective against wood destroying fungi
and insects. The treated wood with this preservative turn the colour to light brown after
weathering.

Different wood species have their own penetration and distribution of preservatives. Sapwood
is in general easy to treat with wood preservatives and examples of such species are pines,
western larch and hemlock. Heartwood of most species is difficult to treat because most
species have variation in their depth of penetration.

During the preparation of wood for preservatives treatment, the wood undergoes several
processes. The first process is peeling. Peeling is important to enable wood to dry quickly in
order to avoid decomposition and damage by insect. Besides, it also helps the preservative to
penetrate easily. The second process is drying which is important to prevent decay and aid
preservative penetration. The third process is incising for wood that is resistant to penetration.
In incising, the wood is passed through rollers which helps to open the lumen thus allowing
the penetration of preservatives. Furthermore, in wood preserving method there are two
general types which is pressure processes where wood is treated by immersing it in
preservatives and non-pressure processes where the treated wood is brief dipping or steeping
it in solution of waterborne preservatives.