The unpredictability of Fall and Winter weather is coming. Yet it tends to sneak up on us every year. Depending on where you live, fall and winter brings hard rains, heavy snow, winds, or brutally cold temperatures—all that can wreak havoc on your wood decking. Now is the time to prepare, including weatherproofing your wood deck.

While some wood decks (like Accoya) are more durable than others, it’s still prudent to ensure that any wood deck performs year after year. Here are some simple steps to weatherproof decking so you can enjoy it for years.

More preventive steps that are easy to do

Besides an annual cleaning, board replacement, and other maintenance, there are other complementary ways you can weatherproof and keep your wood deck lasting for years. Is water pooling anywhere on your deck? Consider adding gutter systems or downspouts to carry water off the deck and away from your foundation. To help shield your deck against your local environment from wind or rain, or snow, consider adding a retractable deck awning or a pergola with a waterproof cover. Try to rotate plant pots or furniture. Over time, leaving these items on your wood deck is a breeding ground for wet, moldy patches and can stain or discolor your wood deck.

Accoya provides a 25-year residential warranty, giving homeowners peace of mind that their decking is worth the investment. Decking boards made from Accoya wood are very durable and rarely need repairs. That said, take the time each summer to do a proper weatherproof decking inspection to keep ahead of any repairs, and always clean your Accoya decking regularly with just water and a brush.

To read more about our decking options, visit our website.

The deck, an extension of your home, is an essential space for homeowners to relax and entertain. As such, the house deck designs deserve the same attention to detail as the rest of your exterior. And that includes color combinations, finishes — natural or coated — and material choices.

Today, savvy homeowners are discovering new ways to mix materials on their home’s exterior, including color combinations. Contrasting your home’s colors with your decking can add visual interest, texture, and personality to a home’s exterior and create a unique, dynamic look that reflects your style.

Combining your home’s color with your new or existing deck offers cautionary advice. Here are some ‘how to choose deck color’ considerations and tips to think about.

Still trying to figure out what colors will work best to mix and match? We recommend getting paint samples and testing them in different lighting conditions. Your porch light can do good and bad wonders for a home’s color, as can the time of day. This will ensure how the color matches—or doesn’t—against your home’s exterior in various lighting situations to ensure a cohesive match before painting.

It’s not as arduous as you’d think, either. And, after you’re done, your home’s exterior is ready for the fall and beyond to perform better and keep its beautiful curb appeal.

As an Accoya customer, you know that the siding on your home is resistant to rotting, is likely to stay free of any visible distortion over its lifetime, and is a cost-effective choice for lasting performance. That’s a solid foundation for keeping your siding clean. However, dirt and debris can still accumulate over the years. Here are our six tips on how to clean wood siding and how to care for wood siding and maintain it for years to come.

Tip 2: Take a walk around your home (while enjoying that summer sunshine).

Inspect your Accoya siding and look for damaged, missing, or loose boards. Now is the time to repair any siding if needed.

Tip 3: Prep your siding and rinse.

Think of this step as painting a room. Once you’ve gathered your tools and inspected your siding, prepare your siding by removing any dirt or debris, or obstacles nearby. If you have landscaping, consider covering it with a light plastic sheet. Now it’s time to gently rinse your siding with your hose’s spray nozzle to remove dirt and any debris. (Note: never use a pressure washer for this step.

Tip 4: Scrub, clean, and rinse (again).

Fill your bucket with water with mild detergent, mix, and always test a small area to ensure your solution doesn’t damage or discolor your siding. After determining the solution is okay, gently scrub your wood siding and apply deep scrubs where dirt appears. Once your siding is cleaned, rinse it again with your garden hose.

Tip 5: Grab a beverage and allow the siding to dry.

Allow your wood siding to dry naturally with the summer sun, and enjoy your clean and maintained siding for another season.

For this ultra-modern home, Shou Sugi Ban is aesthetically beautiful, and the dark finish also achieves a striking, standout appeal. Utilizing charring as a surface treatment is a natural, sustainable, non-toxic alternative to treated wood that harms people and the environment.

This simple two-story home in Chicago used two shades of charred Accoya wood. The base is concrete, while the upper levels used an Accoya wood façade system in two different shades – grey and black. The façade mirrors the internal arrangement of the two floors. Not so simple anymore!

Accoya’s MATSU (from the Japanese term ‘pine tree’), by reSAWN Timber Co., provided a burnt look on the outer facing side of the tongue and groove cladding but also extreme durability, exterior weathering capabilities, FSC®-certification, exterior warranty, and the hardiness of Accoya for those brutal coastal conditions.

A deep gray, slatted Accoya wood covers the exterior, while charred, stained, sealed, and deep gray, slatted Accoya wood siding by reSAWN Timber Co. enhances the roofscape’s dynamic edges and arcs. Accoya was chosen for its durability, low maintenance, and distinctly contemporary appearance.

Who says fire stations have to be drab, concrete affairs?

This fire station in Aspen used Accoya Smooth Coastline by Delta Millworks, which provides splashes and accents to break up the fire station’s exteriors.

For this ultra-modern home, Shou Sugi Ban is aesthetically beautiful, and the dark finish also achieves a striking, standout appeal. Utilizing charring as a surface treatment is a natural, sustainable, non-toxic alternative to treated wood that harms people and the environment.

This simple two-story home in Chicago used two shades of charred Accoya wood. The base is concrete, while the upper levels used an Accoya wood façade system in two different shades – grey and black. The façade mirrors the internal arrangement of the two floors. Not so simple anymore!

The groundbreaking comes on the heels of the completion of the fourth acetylation reactor at Arnhem, the Netherlands plant in September. View this video to learn more about Reactor 4. The fourth reactor increases Arnhem’s Accoya production capacity by 33% and the Kingsport facility will be an additional 67% increase in capacity from 2022 volumes.

Since the Stone Age, wood has been a primary and preferred building material. Even as other materials were introduced, wood remains an essential and viable building material. Wood is also one of the most sustainable materials. Although it is susceptible to degradation if not treated to endure long-term exposure risks — like harsh climate conditions and attacks by insects and fungus — modern times have brought new and advanced technologies for wood preservation.

These advanced wood technologies are considered new to an age-old industry, many of which have been on the commercial market for the last 15 years, like Accoya high performance wood. Now, 15 years may seem like a short time, but their technology, in some cases, has been researched for more than 100 years yet only recently commercialized.

Accoya Acetylated Wood contains the same constituents as natural wood with enhanced levels. So, it is not uncommon for our team of experts to field questions regarding Accoya wood. Here, we’ve listed the top five questions and answers:

Accoya wood is real wood. It is sourced from fast-growing, abundantly available, sustainably FSC certified forests that match or exceed other man-made, intensely resource-depleting, and heavy carbon-polluting alternatives. Not only that, but it is one of the few building materials awarded Cradle to Cradle Certified® Gold, meaning our supply chain, production processes, and procedures have been examined and scored highly on categories including Material Health (Platinum), Water Stewardship (Platinum), Material Reutilization (Gold), and Renewable Energy & Carbon Management (Gold), and Social Fairness (Gold). Find out more about Accoya’s sustainability credentials.

Because of its unique properties to withstand even the harshest climates, it is widely used for exterior applications like windows (bays, casement, sash, and shutters) and doors (entry, French, bi-fold, and garage), decking (pool, rooftop, stairs), and siding. Accoya is increasing in popularity among landscape architects for use as landscape timbers, sculptures, playground structures, and furniture because it is rot and water-resistant, durable, and carries a 50-year above ground and 25-year below ground or freshwater applications. It is easy to machine, saw, plane, and sand like normal wood.

Because it is a small movement wood product (less shrink and swell), it is stable offering smaller gaps and an even surface that will stay smoother for longer than most wood products. It also remains cool in hot weather and is less prone to splinters making it an ideal wood product for decking.

When it comes to enhancing your outdoor space, it’s hard to beat a beautiful deck. If you’re considering one, you’ve got some decisions to make since decks come in all sizes, shapes and materials. Whether you’re looking to extend your living space with a back deck, enhance the lounge area around your pool, add a roof deck for relaxing or install a durable dock, here are four compelling reasons to opt for real wood as your decking material.

Whether you’re building a pool deck, a rooftop deck or a dock, real wood can be a durable choice, effective against rot and decay even when in contact with water. But it’s important to select the right type of wood: Pine and western red cedar are popular choices for wet areas like poolside areas and hot tubs. However, untreated wood can splinter (not ideal for those barefoot summer days by the water) and require regular upkeep to maintain its appearance.

Acetylated wood, on the other hand, is an extremely hard-wearing and easy-care alternative. It doesn’t require any coating and it resists rot, splintering and insect attacks, even in water. And unlike many other types of wood, it offers exceptional dimensional stability, which means the boards won’t visibly shrink or swell when subjected to rain, sun, heat and cold, so they’ll retain their smooth, tailored appearance for decades. Acetylated wood outlasts many other types of wood by decades, with manufacturers providing a 25-year in-ground or freshwater warranty and a 50-year above-ground warranty.

Responsibly sourced and manufactured wood decking is an environmentally friendly material so it’s better for the health of your family and Earth. If you’re interested in going green, look for real wood with FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification for proof of sustainability. You’ll also want to check that it has been manufactured cleanly, without the use of toxic chemicals. One indication? Cradle to Cradle Gold (C2C Gold) certification, a globally recognized measure of a safer, more sustainable product.

Wood is an organic material, and it changes over time as it reacts with the sun and the rain, developing new colors and textures: a process known as weathering.

Accoya, as a natural wood product, is no different

Like other wood species, uncoated Accoya wood will weather over time to an elegant slivery grey color when left outside and exposed to the elements.

Unlike other woods however, weathering does not affect the durability, stability or performance of Accoya.

During the weathering transition process the surface color of Accoya can appear patchy due to the different levels of sunlight and rain coming into contact with the wood, but over time it evens out to a beautiful silvery grey effect that lasts for decades to come.

Because Accoya has such great dimensional stability, coatings are not so stressed by shrinking and swelling forces that affect all other types of wood – meaning they last and look better for longer. For certain applications such as windows it is industry standard for frames to be coated to protect the other parts of the window fittings and mechanisms.

A question that comes up on a regular basis is how long do wood decks lasts and linked to this question is the cost of maintenance and what part sustainability plays.

So, this blog is dedicated to how long you can expect your wood deck to last and also how Accoya® Color can give you great value for money and peace of mind. In addition to Accoya we will look at the two main types of wood that are used for decking, that is, softwoods and hardwoods.

It all depends on the type of wood being installed and how rigorously the maintenance schedule is followed (even the best-intentioned homeowner can fall behind in maintenance). The average lifespan of a wood deck is between 10 to 15 years, but this will vary with regards to the type of wood used. Softwoods such as cedar and redwoods won’t last as long and should be pressure treated first. Hardwoods such as Ipe and mahogany are more expensive because they grow slower than softwoods and they are denser – their durability is naturally increased (but many hardwoods such as Ipe are now considered unsustainable from over use).

Typical maintenance activities include regular inspection of the surface and substructure, looking for joist issues or excess moisture. Regular sweeping of the surface and cleaning with a deck cleaning solution to kill mold and bacteria is recommended. Sanding is also sometimes needed.

Accoya Color is supplied with a warranty against rot and decay, even in-ground installations. This means that the timber is ideal for humid locations such as swimming pool surrounds. Accoya timber has been used for years without any rot and so is ideal for decking too.

It’s also ready to use ‘straight out of the box’ which means no expensive pre-installation treatments against termites or mold and very little need for annual maintenance programs (apart from the usual sweeping up of leaf litter, etc). As it’s a low maintenance deck material, it means that homeowners have peace of mind as to lower costs after installation and a reassuring lack of chemical treatments needed to keep it looking pristine.

Low maintenance, highly sustainable and long-lasting…Accoya Color definitely takes the pain away.

Once upon a time…

Decks throughout the US come in many forms, backyard, front porch, docks leading down to the river and so on. Redwood, Cedar and Ipe have been the traditional woods used in deck construction for hundreds of years. But, the first two require periodic treatment to seal and protect against moisture and of course the use of Ipe is now frowned upon due to potential illegal logging practices.  Until recently, there was little thought given as to what we now call the ‘provenance’ or source of the timber and also the long-term sustainability of this precious decking material.

The devastation of deforestation

Without getting too pessimistic, it’s worth noting that the clearing of tropical rainforests is still happening at an alarming rate, despite the best endeavors of governments around the world. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN estimates that the world has lost a billion acres of forest since 1990, mostly in Africa and South America. The Amazon Conservation group reports that destruction rose by 21 percent in 2020.  Much of this unregulated illegal activity may find its way into the back yards of innocent consumers.

Read more here on deforestation.

Accoya Color is ideal for timber decking projects in the US. Unlike slow-grown hardwoods it is sourced from sustainably sourced softwood that is FSC® certified with 100% proof of provenance. This natural softwood is then modified using our famous patented acetylation process that results in Accoya wood – in this decking product it is also now colored a beautiful grey through to the core…Accoya® Color. To achieve this, after acetylation, the newly modified timber goes through an extra dyeing process in a purpose-built facility using organic non-toxic color pigment.

Important elements for wooden decking are the durability of the material and the degree of maintenance required after installation, most of which involve chemical treatments of some kind or other. Accoya Color is just like its traditional Accoya stablemate in that it’s very low maintenance. There is no need for additional coatings (although it coats very well) and its grey color anticipates the natural silvering of wood when exposed to weathering over the years.

As Accoya Color comes with a warranty against rot and decay, even when installed in ground (a unique feature), it results in an eco-friendly timber that lasts for decades and consequently locks away carbon too. These wooden decks are 100% recyclable too after their decking life, further increasing their sustainable street-cred.

Accoya Color is available to buy in the US from a range of our official lumberyard partners that can be found on the link below.

When laying down or replacing a deck there are many options for the professional builder or homeowner to consider such as the deck board material to use, color, coatings, weathering, plus of course safety concerns such as possible slips and splinters. This is a big endeavor and likely to cost money and effort, so it pays to do your homework.

Sometimes there are too many choices in life, and this is especially true when you are looking to create or replace your deck. What material to choose, what color stain, if any, and perhaps considering other types of coatings too. So let’s narrow down the choices straight away by taking out the composite ‘wood’ decks that usually feature a mix of wood and plastic materials. These may last a long time, but nothing beats a natural real wood deck. So, in relation to wood decking, one of the major choice factors is durability, how long your chosen wood will last out in the open before rotting or decaying.

Accoya boards have been used for wood decking for years to great acclaim – let’s face it, thousands of architects, builders and landscape designers around the world can’t all be wrong! The boards combine the beauty of real wood with scientifically-proven durability that will last for years. Due to its incredible ability to withstand rot and decay, even in water, Accoya has become the standout choice for decking timber projects.

There is now a new addition to the Accoya family, Accoya Color, which has all the advantages of our traditional modified timber but with a beautiful and consistent grey color all the way through to the core. Accoya Color has gone through a patented color impregnation and fixation process at the dedicated Accsys Accoya Color plant.

When it comes to boosting your home’s curb appeal, great-looking siding is hard to beat. Wood is one of the most popular options, and for good reason. It adds warmth and natural appeal to your exterior and sits beautifully alongside other materials such as concrete and steel. While regular wood siding typically requires regular upkeep to maintain its appearance, acetylated wood offers an easy-care, highly durable alternative.

Read on to discover more about this siding material that’s gaining traction among architects, designers and homeowners alike.

“Accoya is a modified wood that aims to overcome the shortcomings of standard timber,” says Jocelyn Mahan, marketing manager at reSAWN Timber. “The modification process enhances the performance of the wood, resulting in improved longevity. Accoya is modified by a process called acetylation, a cutting-edge, patented technology that enables it to resist rot, defy the elements and stay strong for decades.”

This residence (Six Square House) in Bridgehampton, New York, features charred Accoya Ikigai wood siding, burnt in the ancient Japanese style of shou sugi ban, which gives the exterior a uniquely textured, charcoal-like appearance while enhancing its performance and minimizing upkeep.

Siding is a major, long-term investment in your home, so the material you choose needs to be able to stand up to whatever your environment throws at it — now and for decades to come. Accoya siding is resistant to rot, decay and insect damage (including termites). It’s a cost-effective choice for lasting performance. “It’s guaranteed for 50 years above ground and 25 years in ground or fresh water — its performance and properties are remarkable,” Mahan says.

Exposed to heat, humidity and rain, this waterfront home in White Stone, Virginia, is subject to more weather extremes than most, so a high-performance siding material was a must. The material also needed to create a warm, organic feel that complemented the home’s natural setting. Accoya Nigiri wood siding was chosen (alongside charred cypress) for its superior durability and earthy, coastal feel.

Siding presents a unique opportunity to get creative with the look of your exterior and wow visitors from the moment they pull up to your home. To achieve this, you’ll need a siding material that offers plenty of design flexibility.

Accoya comes in different board widths and finishes so you can easily mix up the look — and you can install them vertically, horizontally or even in patterns. It’s dimensionally stable so joints stay smooth for a tailored look. Add a colored coating, leave your Accoya wood untreated so it weathers naturally, or opt for the designer favorite seen in the home here: charred shou sugi ban. You can also combine it with other materials such as brick, steel, concrete or stone to create an eye-catching, layered look that you’ll appreciate every time you come home.

More: Learn more about Accoya’s range of long-life acetylated wood products by visiting our homepage here.

This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team.

When it comes to enhancing your outdoor space, it’s hard to beat a beautiful deck. If you’re considering one, you’ve got some decisions to make since decks come in all sizes, shapes and materials. Whether you’re looking to extend your living space with a back deck, enhance the lounge area around your pool, add a roof deck for relaxing or install a durable dock, here are four compelling reasons to opt for real wood as your decking material.

Whether you’re building a pool deck, a rooftop deck or a dock, real wood can be a durable choice, effective against rot and decay even when in contact with water. But it’s important to select the right type of wood: Pine and western red cedar are popular choices for wet areas like poolside areas and hot tubs. However, untreated wood can splinter (not ideal for those barefoot summer days by the water) and require regular upkeep to maintain its appearance.

Acetylated wood, on the other hand, is an extremely hard-wearing and easy-care alternative. It doesn’t require any coating and it resists rot, splintering and insect attacks, even in water. And unlike many other types of wood, it offers exceptional dimensional stability, which means the boards won’t visibly shrink or swell when subjected to rain, sun, heat and cold, so they’ll retain their smooth, tailored appearance for decades. Acetylated wood outlasts many other types of wood by decades, with manufacturers providing a 25-year in-ground or freshwater warranty and a 50-year above-ground warranty.

Responsibly sourced and manufactured wood decking is an environmentally friendly material so it’s better for the health of your family and Earth. If you’re interested in going green, look for real wood with FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification for proof of sustainability. You’ll also want to check that it has been manufactured cleanly, without the use of toxic chemicals. One indication? Cradle to Cradle Gold (C2C Gold) certification, a globally recognized measure of a safer, more sustainable product.

Natural appeal aside, wood cladding gives you endlessly creative ways to express your personal style. Take this three-story office building designed and occupied by architectural firm Dillon Kyle Architects in Houston, for example. It’s clad in 2,500 Accoya boards that have an abstract leaf-like pattern carved into the wood. The pattern references the oak trees that line the neighborhood, and it adds not just texture and softness to the modern structure but a unique personal touch.

“The Accoya wood boards are unsealed and allowed to weather over time,” says Peter Klein, associate principal architect at Dillon Kyle Architects. “The idea was to use a material where you couldn’t tell where the patterns started and stopped — just one big continuous object.”

As the wood siding would play a pivotal role in the look and performance of the building, the firm took their time choosing the right one. “Even left untreated, it didn’t warp or mildew or mold, and that let us know we were on the right path,” Klein says. “The neutral gray tones coupled with its long-term durability, resistance to rot and insects made Accoya wood the ideal material for this project.”

Running slender boards vertically, as the architect has done here, is a clever design technique for making a low roof or ceiling appear higher. You can use this strategy both outside your home with wood siding and inside with wood wall lining.

If room height is not a concern, consider mixing vertical and horizontal patterns for added texture and interest inside or outside your home.

More: Learn more about Accoya’s range of sustainable, acetylated wood products by visiting our homepage here.

This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team.

With the help of sustainable construction and the use of non-toxic materials, many future benefits are being realised. And here are just 5 of the great reasons why building sustainable stadiums promotes a healthier environment¹:

1. Water preservation: because a lot of water is needed in stadiums to water and prepare the real grass pitches, clean the venue or for sanitary reasons, water consumption in stadiums are very high. When considering how to reduce water consumption, green initiatives such as rainwater harvesting and recycling can be considered.
2. Energy preservation: in order to reduce the use of energy, more and more stadiums are being made to conserve energy consumption, and even being equipped with solar and wind power to provide them with an alternative energy source.
3. Low pollution: nowadays, more and more stadiums are built with healthier, more sustainably-sourced and recycled materials, such as wood, plastic and paper. With the help of using greener building materials that help fight global resource depletion, the amount of waste and pollution in the environment is reduced and the destructive impacts of construction are minimised.
4. Financial benefits: by choosing greener and longer-lasting materials for stadiums, environmentally-friendly projects will be
   cheaper in the long run when the maintenance and operation of the buildings are taken into account. Moreover, the value of the project can actually increase over time, while the costs of water, energy, maintenance and insurance premiums can decrease.
5. Reduced health risks to the community: using non-toxic materials can not only reduce health problems within the community, but also safety risks while stadia are constructed and in use for years after!

So now you have been introduced to world’s leading sustainable sporting stadiums, the real question is: How can you contribute to making a sustainable stadium?

As we know, many of the commonly used building materials are made of non-renewable resources, such as PVC or aluminium, which are finite, depleting resources, and often come with heavy energy and emissions costs. Every day, more and more pollution is released and CO2 is added to the surface air. However, our world can also provide us with raw materials that offer a long-term solution to both of these impacts: this material is wood, from well-managed and sustainable forests.

By specifying Accoya wood, you are already one step closer to helping build a more sustainable stadium by selecting it as your material for decking, cladding, windows and doors – frames or any other application. Accoya wood is sourced from fast growing trees and sustainably certified forests and offers many benefits to application-oriented industries around the world! Its high performance, unrivalled durability and sustainable credentials make it the perfect solution; a truly unique combination of qualities.

Thanks to our unique acetylation process, Accoya wood is highly resistant to decay – meaning it lasts and stores carbon for decades, making it a perfect alternative not only to carbon-intensive and resource-depleting materials, but also to slower-growing and unsustainably sourced hardwoods.

Just think about it. Who wouldn’t want beautiful installations from a material that has a longer lifespan while simultaneously increasing global carbon storage and providing us with a climate-proof alternative to concrete, metal and plastic, all for the sake of a more sustainable environment?

And don’t forget; you are opting for a premium product with exceptional stability that can easily last twice as long and require less upkeep than other alternatives – so in the long run the running costs can be much cheaper too.

Accoya wood may not be competing in the Olympics, but it has it’s very own Gold: Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Gold to be precise, marking it as the top performer in the building materials industry.

To give you some inspiration and ideas, let’s look at a couple of the few sustainable projects where Accoya has contributed to a more sustainable world by helping to build a greener sports stadium!

The outdoor velodrome, designed by Sander Douma Architects, was specified with Accoya wood for the 200m cycling track in Assen, the Netherlands, making it the perfect place for cyclists to train for their future cycling races while enjoying some fresh air.

The outdoor velodrome not only gives cyclists a feeling of freedom, but also creates benefits for the cyclists by giving them less resistance and more speed when cycling on the track. This is thanks to our unique modification process, which makes Accoya the perfect material for both internal and external applications of the sports stadium.

1. Boost Your Outdoor Living Space

A natural wood deck is an ideal transition from your home’s interior to the outdoors. “Decks are a great way to create a seamless connection between the interior and the exterior if the color of the hardwood flooring on the interior matches the deck beyond,” Bovell says. For this stunning home in West Vancouver designed by McLeod Bovell Modern Houses, the deck’s blonde hue corresponds with the light-toned flooring inside, both a beachy complement to the blue waters of the pool and the inlet beyond. Bovell’s team used board-formed concrete for the siding, which has a soft wood grain texture that mimics the natural wood of the deck.

For this project, Bovell selected acetylated wood for the decking — a material chosen carefully to stand up to the climate of the site. Acetylating changes the cell structure of the wood so the cell walls block moisture, reducing the wood’s ability to absorb water. This results in nontoxic wood that’s naturally water- and insect-resistant, is barefoot-friendly and is safe for people and pets.

“We found this product after searching for a replacement for natural wood alternatives for decking material in the challenging climate that is the West Coast of British Columbia,” Bovell says. “Accoya wood is a good choice of wood for the West Coast because there are not any other durable wood options that are hard enough for a durable deck surface.” Additionally, the wood offered by Accoya is sustainably sourced, with a smaller environmental footprint than other decking materials.

3. Complement Your Yard

Even if you have a modest-size home, a wood deck is a natural companion to any style of landscape or even a view looking out to leafy canopies. At home alongside lawns, flower beds, shrubs and trees, wood decking provides a calming neutral palette for colorful gardens and looks harmonious with green landscaping. Gray is an on-trend neutral color for decking, letting a green lawn and colorful flowers really pop. One of the advantages of using natural wood decking is that the boards will naturally weather to a silvery gray. If you’re bringing greenery to your deck with potted plants, choosing an acetylated wood reduces the chance of water stains left by the pots.

4. Express Your Personal Style

Options abound when it comes to color stains and surface textures for wood decking. You can let your design taste shine with smooth, brushed, charred or even custom textured finishes for a one-of-a-kind look. Bovell prefers a wood’s more natural texture and focuses on stains. “The stain is usually matched to the wood scheme in the interior or exterior architecture and material palette of the house,” she says.

The slight variation in the boards and natural weathering can add subtle texture to an expanse of decking. Additionally, you might like to explore mixing wood decking with different hardscape materials such as cut stone, poured concrete or crunchy gravel, and choose a board color and finish that ties them together visually. In the same way Bovell selected a blonde hue to match the hardwood floors of the previously mentioned home, you could select decking to pick up the colors of natural stone in a flagstone path leading to a deck, for a similarly cohesive look.

1. Less Stress

Perhaps one of the areas with the most comprehensive research is around stress. In short, natural environments and wood in par­ticular help reduce stress and improve wellbeing. Over the past ten years, several studies have come to the same conclusion.

One study⁸ showed that adding plants or even posters of plants into hospital waiting rooms had the potential to reduce patients’ feelings of stress. Another study⁹ put 119 students into four different rooms:

• a room with wood and plants
• a room with wood and no plants
• a room with no wood but with plants
• a room with no wood and no plants

The plants had no influence on the result, but the wood did. Students had lower stress levels in the wooden rooms.

Similarly, the newly refurbished National Oncology Institute waiting room in Bratislava, Slovakia was the location for a 2019 study.¹⁰ Visitors were measured for respiration, heart rate, cortisol level and blood pressure before, during and after their stay in the wooden room.

The participants described their emotions as predominantly satisfied or very satisfied and their cortisol levels decreased by 7.5%, implying a stress-reducing effect.

4. Creativity boost

In the past ten years, different research groups have come up with the same conclusion: wood grain as a texture positively influences creativity. The most recent evidence comes from a 2019 Slovakian study¹ where people were tested in different simulated living room environments.

The surroundings that had the most positive effect on creativity were the ones using both warm and cold colours as well as natural materials such as wood and textiles. These surroundings also had the most positive effect on problem-solving capability, understanding and thinking ability.

On the other hand, the environment with strong colours, artificial wood imitations and synthetic textiles, triggered stress in the participants. The same study also tested people by putting them in front of three different walls and allowing them to touch the wall. Brain activity increased when looking at the wooden wall compared to looking at walls made from chipboard or white laminate.

Back in 2010, a different study² examined creative performance in different environments and this also showed how exposed wood or stone surfaces have a higher potential for creativity. This was compared to artificially produced surfaces such as drywall, plastic laminate, glass, carpet or synthetic fibres.

What is modified wood?

According to TRADA (The Timber Research and Development Association), ‘wood modification involves the action of a chemical, biological or physical agent upon the material, resulting in a property enhancement effective for the service life of the modified wood’.

It’s a bit of a mouthful, but essentially means that the properties of the wood are actually changed by the modification process – enhancing performance by changing the wood itself rather than just soaking or infusing it with other chemicals.

To avoid making this article as impenetrable as modified wood, we’re just going to focus on chemically modified wood, partly because it’s the most well-known, but mainly because it really shows the highest benefits and performance, putting it at the top end of modified woods you can buy.

What performance can you expect from acetylated wood?

Acetylated wood is unrivalled in terms of its durability and stability, especially compared to untreated or pressure-treated wood. Accoya® acetylated wood leads the modified wood industry, and it’s the only wood in the world to offer a 50-year warranty: half a century of guaranteed peace of mind, and industry experts have even stated an expected service life of 70+ years.  It even has a 25-year warranty for use in or underwater, proving its performance even in the toughest conditions.

As with all materials it will still benefit from a bit of maintenance and cleaning, but requirements are substantially reduced, and the impacts of irregular work are considerably less severe.

With these performance properties, it’s no wonder that more and more people, and expert joiners and manufacturers, are selecting Accoya as their wood of choice, for windows, doors, decking, siding, fencing and other exterior wood applications.

I make no apology for listing my own company’s products here, Accoya wood and Tricoya. Even if I wasn’t involved in these products, I would have them on my list because they are such a great example of how we don’t necessarily need to compromise performance in our bid to use more sustainable products.

Photosynthesis is the best means we have of capturing carbon from the atmosphere and in the form of trees we have natural “production units” that convert it for us into a very versatile building material – wood. Using more wood in construction is vital as we aim for that carbon neutral target, yet so often specifiers choose carbon-intensive man-made materials that they have confidence in over wood because of concerns over the durability and stability of the latter.

Both Accoya (solid wood) and Tricoya (panels) are based on sustainably-grown timber which is tweaked at the molecular level by a chemical reaction called acetylation to vastly improve the performance of the wood in a non-toxic manner, thus locking in all of that sequestered carbon for decades longer than would otherwise be the case in products that are much more reliable and predictable than those made from un-acetylated wood. Both Accoya and Tricoya afford us the opportunity to significantly increase the amount of timber we use in construction without compromising on service life expectations or performance, even in challenging external applications.

There’s no doubt that COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the way we work. Although permanent home working is likely to be gradually replaced by a flexible hybrid office/home model as restrictions ease, there will still be thousands of us tapping away on laptops at home this year.  So, it’s no surprise that we’re seeing demand for garden offices soar as workers seek a quiet space outside away from the noise of the house.

Garden offices tend to be entirely separate from the house, fully insulated with heating and built for all weather conditions. Depending on space, they can range in size from a single person room to a fully kitted out office with a built-in kitchen and bathroom. Cheaper than a house extension, garden offices also come with significantly less environmental impact, particularly if built from or clad in sustainable timber.

Embrace the biophilic trend and celebrate your natural surroundings with an unpainted wood exterior. Add a clear coating to preserve the wood’s original hue or let it weather to a beautiful soft grey, as seen on this home in St. Joseph, Michigan. Its acetylated wood siding pops against the black window frames and is low-maintenance, durable and resistant to rot, insects and fungi.

Acetylation is the process of modifying wood with a concentrated vinegar, “which makes it so that the wood doesn’t stay wet,” says Tim Svarczkopf, a technical manager at Accoya, a company that creates acetylated wood. It reduces the shrink and swell by 75% and allows Accoya to offer a 50-year warranty. “If the wood hardly swells and doesn’t rot for 50 years, the applications are virtually limitless,” Svarczkopf says.

Modern minimalist architecture, with its clean lines and simple color palettes, continues to pop up in Houzz’s most-saved photos. Impressive use of volume, shape and contrasting materials — such as sleek metal and textural stone — adds visual interest and turns heads.

Acetylated wood decking brings visual warmth to the modern home in West Vancouver seen here, acting as a counterpoint to the expansive glass and rough concrete. While salt crystals may form on the planks, the coastal environment won’t have any effect on the wood itself, Svarczkopf says. The deck won’t splinter and can be enjoyed all year round with minimal upkeep. “Friends who use acetylated wood in coastal regions rave about it,” McBride says.

Mix contemporary and traditional styles for a new exterior look that’s all your own. “Sleek” and “simple” are the watchwords of this approach to help you avoid anything too mismatched. Think neutral hues, clean lines and minimal detailing. For example, consider one large picture window instead of multiple mullioned designs.

A modern addition imbues this shingled home in Bellport, New York, with fresh style while preserving its historic character. The new space features simple windows and charred acetylated-wood siding, chosen for its durability and sustainability. Certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, among others, the siding is fully biodegradable. “The waste isn’t going to impact the environment, as opposed to cement board, vinyl or aluminum,” McBride says. Svarczkopf notes, “It’s also a very fast-growing renewable resource and a carbon-sequestering product. The fact that it lasts for so long and needs less maintenance enhances the life cycle benefits.”

This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team.

To see the article on HOUZZ, please click here.

Since that very first batch in 2007, Accsys has expanded our offering in both availability and scope to give even greater choice and versatility to the construction industry. We’ve constantly refined and developed our Accoya production processes and buying options, and developed Tricoya®, many of the Accoya’s long list of benefits to the world in panel form, unlocking vast creative and functional potential for a more sustainable built environment. We’ll be opening the world’s first Tricoya plant this year, an exciting prospect and quite amazing in the context of Accoya’s 14^th ‘birthday’!

As we’re celebrating Accoya today though, we shouldn’t forget to also mention that the new www.accoya.com launched recently, with updated branding and a whole new way to see and showcase the product and its uses in stunning detail – as well as simplifying the path to purchase.

So, maybe the question isn’t ‘why is Accoya still a favorite after 14 years’, but ‘why would you want to choose anything else?’