DURABILITY OF WOOD

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 110, 11 May 1936, Page 6

DURABILITY OF WOOD

SOME REMARKABLE CASES. X very s ? rp:iZ7g -iatcmcnt "I:.pr vvhi'th kept d.' . as ‘. - ' •..über exppH. M • »• B - Boulton. a! a recent meeting o* aii-bitc. *n Lo.i ,’,an. "ft m a .' become me.bam ah;- . worn a-vav," he coiitinue L *’ s-.me beetle will fly in through the window I and lav egg- in • u-r it may ansurb a i moisture content ui more than 2" per .ent. and be attacked by dry rot; but. if limber is kept dry and beet.e> a.c I prevented from laying liici: e«£? m -:.j Hi- will h ? l for ewr.” ' The lecturer leicned a -:uu • u -.i t of .Swedish wbilevvuu-i. erecied m 1727 and s: ; ll standing; a house in London built or limber in H>6<. <vb..-tt signs of dry rot; ami aao.hei house m I Mavfair built in 17.1. He remarked that • ••: ■• i,, ‘i .imd for huu-c.- •• modern design a- i aSo fc-r quite large house-. It wa«| s:'i'tuL I '\.a" ’more durable ami 'l.e.ter ibaa timber, but verv few people had; bothered l- '.olle-t am- statistics vn the ; durability ui othe: material.- in < < in j parison with timber. In the case ot i window-frames. for example, on sumo, municipal housing estates it had been I found necessary after four yea is in] some cases, and at the most eight, to | remove the metal windows and replace j ihem bv wove, on account of corns on ■ • -ouides. A poor quality cheap wooden j window was, of course. n< use to anyone. but a good wooden window was as j «at*sfactorv as anv metal window ever' made. On the question tiiepruu-t materia s. it had frequently been found] that intense heat would rau.-e steel i girders to collapse, and so the floors! , ame down, while wooden beams would i stand up and merely be charred tv a | depth of an inch and a-half. He strongly recommended anyone interested to go to the museum of the London Fire Brigade and see some ot the specimens there. The Fire Brigade authorities spoke highly «-f limber ot large dimensions from a fire-resisting pvin: of view. They could readily deal Mr. I>. Bethune-William-, said that in tire Sudan gold mines pit props were taken out which had been there since 4000 B.'.’. and which were in almost perfect condition. The atmosphere was very dry. ••[ had the privilege <f going over ihe Gainsborougn film studios after they h«xd been burned out some years ago, and I was struck by two things.” he went on. “First of all, the steel roof trusses had been so mangled by the lire that to trace what any particular member was it was necessary to i race it from the eaves and say ‘That must be a strut.* ‘That must be a rafter,’ and so on. while the teak' doors, though badly charred, stood up

well. Secondly, the fire proofing of the steel columns was wire mesh on softwood blocks round the steel columns, and the plaster had remained almost intact and the wood had not even been charred. wh : ch goes to show that our • present fireproofing may be sFghtly • excessive for certain work.”