Paint: does it matter if it's black or white?

posted: 06/Oct/2015

The recent trend for homeowners to paint their house dark grey or even in some cases black might be fun for a while but could result in some issues as the temperature rises.

The hot summer months can lead to shrinkage and distortion issues occurring in dark coloured timber that is subjected to full sun exposure. This can occur to either naturally dark timber (oiled or clear finished) or dark coloured stained or painted timber. 

Dark coloured timber surfaces in hot sun exposure can reach temperatures exceeding 70 degree Celsuis. This will result in the timber 'cooking' and drying out to under 8% moisture content. Shrinkage and shrinkage distortion that can result, even in correctly seasoned timber, may result in unacceptable appearance.

Distortion in dark coloured timber exposed to full sun. 

Much of these performance issues can be minimised by following Timber Queensland's recommendations including use of appropriate robust fixings, and light or pale coloured stains/paints on timber used in full sun exposure situations.   Head into your local AQTMN where you can pick up copies of Timber Queensland technical datasheets on all of these topics.

 

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