This gorgeous log home, designed and built by Sansin partner Davidson Log & Timber Artisans, is located in Washago, Ontario, the gateway to cottage country. The home is constructed of premium eastern white pine logs that were treated with Sansin’s Timber-Tec protective wood formula. The logs were then finished with Sansin’s WoodForce in a dark Thunder color to create a weathered look and even out the imperfections on the logs. The exterior trim is accented in a beautiful Sage Green SDF formula, and the Timber-Tec Chinking pops in a lighter Limestone shade. Inside, Sansin Purity Glacier in a soothing Pretzel color protects the timbers and millwork. “We are all happy with how it turned out; it really looks great,” said Matt Davidson, owner of Davidson Log & Timber Artisans. “We are big fans of your product and love how the grain still pops!”
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PRODUCTS USED IN THIS PROJECT
Purity Glacier
A crystal-clear finish for high-wear interior wood surfaces.
Beautiful glass-like finish, available in clear or solid formulations, for cabinetry, walls, doors, windows, furniture and even floors.
This beautiful lakeside home is nestled into a dense sugar maple forest in Algonquin Highlands, Ontario. Designed by Building Arts Architects, the home’s tree-lined perch offers expansive views of the forest, sky, and the waters of Kawagama Lake. Sansin partners Element 5 and Timmerman Timberworks selected KP-12 to protect and beautify the CLT during the construction phase. The dark SDF – Onyx 27 exterior contrasts to the lively colors of the forest. On the inside, the wood is protected by Purity Interior Glacier with a final sheen of Extra Low Lustre. The interior feature walls are coated in Purity Interior 0-VOC Stain – Ebony 3426, beautifully contrasting the light interior.
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PRODUCTS USED IN THIS PROJECT
Purity Stain
Beautiful penetrating stain for wood interiors.
Easy to apply without streaking and available in a wide variety of striking colors that enhance the natural beauty and grain of interior wood.
The new Toronto Montessori School (TMS) Middle School is a 10,000-square foot addition to the TMS Upper School campus in Richmond Hill, Ontario. The timber and steel structure, designed by Farrow Partners, adds six new Middle School classrooms and two flexible breakout areas. The glulam timbers on the exterior (from Sansin partner Timber Systems Limited) are shaped like trees that cast playful shadows into the classrooms. Exposed glulam ceilings and timber posts carry the beauty of wood inside. The interior glulam and the timber deck were protected and beautified with two coats of Precision Coat SDF in a custom color. The exterior glulam is made more durable and beautiful with a complete system of KP-12UVW, Precision Coat SDF and Precision Coat SDF Topcoat, all in custom colors.
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PRODUCTS USED IN THIS PROJECT
Precision Coat SDF
A penetrating one-coat finish for exterior wood.
Precision Coat SDF provides tough, effective protection for wood siding.
Embois is a Sansin partner that designs beautiful homes that feature wooden components on everything from the posts and beams to the floors, ceilings, walls and siding. All of the wood on the interior and exterior of the structures is protected with Sansin Precision Coat SDF in custom colors. “Sansin produces best-in-class wood stains that protect the wood without turning it yellow and let the beautiful texture of the wood shine through,” explains Gil Ayers, project manager at Embois. This five-bedroom home was built in the Le LAGOM development near Mont-Tremblant in Québec. It’s a minimalistic design with floor-to-ceiling windows that integrates into the forested natural setting. The dramatic dark color palette from Sansin allows the home to stand in perfect harmony with the natural surroundings.
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PRODUCTS USED IN THIS PROJECT
Precision Coat SDF
A penetrating one-coat finish for exterior wood.
Precision Coat SDF provides tough, effective protection for wood siding.
This three-level vacation home is located on the eastern shores of Lake Muskoka just outside of Bracebridge, Ontario. It is a secluded location with lots of trees for privacy, yet plenty of floor-to-ceiling windows to capture the stunning views. The owners wanted to keep the interior wood as natural looking as possible and wanted to use a low-VOC coating. They worked with McCoy’s Decorating to select Sansin Purity Glacier in a satin finish for the home’s cedar and fir. McCoy’s has been using Sansin for over a decade because of its environmentally friendly properties, as well as its superior protection and beauty. They say Sansin Purity Glacier is also very forgiving during application, leaving no start and stop lines.
PHOTO GALLERY
PRODUCTS USED IN THIS PROJECT
Purity Glacier
A crystal-clear finish for high-wear interior wood surfaces.
Beautiful glass-like finish, available in clear or solid formulations, for cabinetry, walls, doors, windows, furniture and even floors.
Strathroy, Ontario, Canada – May 29, 2024 – The Sansin Corporation has developed environmentally friendly, high-performance wood protection for more than 35 years and today announced the launch of KP-14, a vapor permeable barrier coat for wood. Part of the company’s Precision Coat Factory Finish Line, KP-14 can be applied to engineered wood components like CLT to protect aggressively from moisture absorption.
KP-14 is designed as a moisture protection plan in conjunction with KP-12W for the exposed top sides of CLT panels. This system aggressively protects wood from water absorption while maintaining vapor permeability similarly to bare wood according to EN927-5 and EN927-4 moisture absorption testing. The KP-12W / KP-14 system offers vapor absorption desorption efficiency of 89% comparable to 92% efficiency of bare wood. This distinguishes KP-14 from other membranes that may entrap the water, possibly leading to mold growth, wood rot and decay.
Figure 1: A chart showing the absorption of water for KP-12 and KP-14 systems according to EN927-5.
Figure 2: A chart showing the desorption of water vapor for KP-14 systems according to EN927-4.
Coating
Vapor Desorption Efficiency %
Uncoated
92.2%
KP-12W / KP-14
95.4%
KP-12W / KP-14 / KP-14
89.3%
Plastic Membrane
60.4%
Figure 3: A table of the water vapor desorption efficiency of KP-12W and KP-14 systems.
KP-14 is highly durable, and like most Sansin products is water-borne and low in VOCs. KP-14 is a clear coating and can be field or factory applied to the necessary level required to protect the wood and prevent weathering and water absorption during installation phase.
“Architects, engineers, and mass timber builders are committed to creating the best looking, longest-lasting wood and mass timber buildings possible. They are often plagued with moisture management challenges on job sites that can be extremely wet,” said Sjoerd Bos, Sansin’s Managing Director. “KP-14 holds water out similarly to a traditional rubber membrane, while costing a fraction of the price.”
Sign up for Sansin IRIS, a program developed to help professionals achieve the aesthetic and durability objectives for wood surfaces on commercial projects.
About Sansin For more than 35 years, Sansin has been the only wood protection company focused exclusively on researching and developing environmentally friendly, water-borne interior and exterior wood products and technologies that deliver outstanding color, durability and performance without the toxicity found in conventional stains. Sansin wood treatments, finishes and preservatives use water, not petroleum solvents, to deeply penetrate and protect wood naturally, from within. Headquartered in Ontario, Canada, Sansin has offices in the Netherlands and Rhode Island and dealer locations in Canada, the U.S., Europe and Australasia. To learn more about The Sansin Corporation, or how to become a Sansin preferred dealer, visit www.sansin.com.
Strathroy, Ontario, Canada – The Sansin Corporation, a global leader in environmentally friendly, high-performance wood protection that brings out the beauty of wood, today announced that Callbecks Home Hardware Building Centre, located at 613 Water St. East in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, has joined the company’s exclusive dealer network.
For 125 years, Callbecks Home Hardware Building Centre has provided customers a range of products offered by a staff of top-notch customer service professionals. The retailer offers building supplies, housewares, paint and stain, plumbing supplies, seasonal items, and home décor all under one roof.
“Our customer service team is the key to our success, and we have been selling paint for 30-plus years,” said Mark Lewis, Assistant Store Manager. “Our team really knows their stuff, and our customers appreciate being able to depend on our paint department for all of their interior and exterior painting and staining needs.” Lewis continued, “Having Sansin added to our product offering takes us to the next level.”
“There are very few other businesses on P.E.I. that can offer the knowledge and products that Callbecks does, and we are pleased that they now have Sansin in the mix,” said Marie-Hélène Dumont, Business Development Manager at Sansin. “Our passion for wood results in a diverse range of products that are carefully formulated to protect, beautify and enhance the natural character of wood – something P.E.I. homeowners and contractors will really appreciate.”
To learn more about Sansin products, go to www.sansin.com.
About Callbecks Home Hardware Building Centre Family owned and operated, Callbecks Home Hardware Building Centre is located in the heart of Summerside PEI and is celebrating its 125th anniversary in business this year. Callbecks offers customers a clean modern well stocked store, with a reputation for great customer service. The retailer offers a diverse range of products from home improvement essentials to gardening supplies and almost everything in between. Callbecks provides island-wide deliveries, home and kitchen design services and installation services. Its staff takes price in offering customers top-quality customer service.
About Sansin For more than 35 years, Sansin has been the only wood protection company focused exclusively on researching and developing environmentally-friendly, water-borne interior and exterior wood products and technologies that deliver outstanding color, durability and performance without the toxicity found in conventional stains. Sansin wood treatments, finishes and preservatives use water, not petroleum solvents, to deeply penetrate and protect wood naturally, from within. Headquartered in Ontario, Canada, Sansin has offices in the Netherlands and Rhode Island and dealer locations in Canada, the U.S., Europe and Australasia. To learn more about The Sansin Corporation, or how to become a Sansin preferred dealer, visit www.sansin.com.
The Lodestar Tower is a public art piece that is crafted out of FSC-certified, laminated Yellow Alaskan Cedar and custom-fabricated steel braces. The sculpture is a collaboration between DS Studio, Fishtnk and Tom Svilans. It stands 24.5 feet (7.5 meters) tall and is 13 feet (four meters) wide at its base. The Lodestar was erected at a previously under-used public plaza and stands as a gateway for this up-and-coming neighborhood, beckoning residents to gather under its canopy. To protect and beautify the wood, a comprehensive Sansin system consisting of KP-11, PC SDF (Tortilla) and PC SDF Topcoat in a custom color were applied to the sculpted mass timber.
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PRODUCTS USED IN THIS PROJECT
Precision Coat SDF
A penetrating one-coat finish for exterior wood.
Precision Coat SDF provides tough, effective protection for wood siding.
Increasingly, traditional timber frame companies are turning to large, prefabricated structural wood members for wall, floor, and roof construction. Using mass timber—including glulam, CLT, DLT, and NLT—in these applications allows the structural components to be revealed. It also exposes the beauty of the material and complements the other building elements traditionally seen in timber frame construction.
“For most timber framers, it’s a natural evolution into mass timber as you grow,” says Sigi Liebmann, a Swiss Master Timber Framer and founder of International Timberframes in B.C., who was part of a team that helped develop DLT in Switzerland in the 1990s. “As our client and contractor base expands, growing into mass timber is a natural evolution. The trend of mass timber helps with the shortage of labour, and it enables timber framers to use prefabricated wood rather than doing everything on-site. We’re used to prefabrication of components, and, in the end, it’s all piece-by-piece assembly.”
Peter Graul, president of Woodpecker European Timber Framing, a full-service design manufacturer in Alberta, has a lot of experience with CLT and glulam. One of his favourite types of mass timber, however, is DLT because it has no glue and is very price competitive. He says Woodpecker often uses a CLT panel as an exposed sheeting on top of a timber structure instead of a tongue-and-groove product.
“That’s typically where we would combine mass timber and solid sawn timber,” he explains. “It’s faster to install, and it gets the building weathertight more quickly. This feature has a more contemporary look because it doesn’t have the lines you’d typically see in tongue and groove.” Another way Graul’s company utilizes mass timber is within a timber frame construction that requires a big, long span beam that’s hard to get in solid sawn timber. “In this case, we will refer back to glulam to create the beams,” he explains.
Mass Timber Benefits
As the benefits of mass timber have become more truly understood and appreciated, mass timber’s use continues to grow. Here are just a few of its many benefits:
Superior seismic strength due to its lightweight and flexible nature
Excellent fire retardancy
Quick and efficient installation
A unique and pleasing aesthetic that creates a sense of warmth and well-being within the structure
Exceptional strength
Outstanding dimensional stability
But perhaps one of the greatest benefits of mass timber is its ability to mitigate and sequester carbon. It also generates almost no waste onsite. “What I personally like about mass timber is its sustainability characteristics,” says Graul. “We don’t have to use big trees to produce the wood. Also, it doesn’t come completely out of square and twist because there are several layers that are laminated to give the member stability. That is a big one for me as a carpenter.”
Liebmann says the benefits to working with mass timber extend into his workforce, too. “Most of the mass timber work—80% to 90%—can be done in the factory, which is a controlled environment. It’s easier on workers because they are able to stay home to prepare the mass timber in our factory, and then when the prefabricated product goes to the site, installation is easier on the workforce there as well.”
The number of sawmills near the shop enables International Timberframes to process all of its mass timber materials—a product they have dubbed Wood100 DLT—in the factory, so the volume of the shipment is smaller. “This leads to much quicker installation and ‘just-in-time’ delivery,” Liebmann says. “Contractors know the truck is coming and are able to lift the panels from the truck to be installed immediately. We just load the pieces onto the truck in sequence. It’s a big time and cost savings.”
Liebmann adds that this is a very familiar process for traditional timber frame companies. “With mass timber, it’s just bigger pieces, but it’s the same principles we’ve always had with timber frame,” he says. “We’re pretty flexible to mix solid timbers with mass timber. There is a material for every use, so it’s not a problem to mix and match.”
Protecting the Wood
To bring out the beauty of the wood and ensure it is protected during installation from UV and moisture, both companies protect all six sides of their mass timber elements with a factory-applied penetrating, breathable undercoat treatment from Sansin. “It’s very easy and quick to apply, and it’s totally worth it to protect the mass timber,” says Graul. “Mass timber projects are often bigger, so they will be exposed to weather longer. That makes it especially important to apply a protective coat.”
Liebmann says International Timberframes uses Sansin for its durability, ease of application, and range of colours and custom tinting that enables colour matching. “We also want to stay as environmentally friendly as possible, so Sansin makes sense for us.”
Sansin has developed a reputation for high-performance industrial and factory finishes that set the benchmark for environmentally friendly formulas. “Our coatings deliver the color, durability, and performance that architects, engineers, and builders can count on,” says Sjoerd Bos, managing director at Sansin. “In addition, our IRIS service takes pride in helping professionals select the best coatings systems to meet the aesthetics and protection requirements of each unique project.”
Along with protecting the wood during construction, the protective undercoat enhances the stability of the wood while preventing discoloration. It also increases the topcoat performance by helping control finish clarity, colour, and grain definition while offering deep wood protection against UV damage and moisture-related issues.
“Whether you’re working with a mass timber structure, traditional timber frame construction, or a hybrid, our best advice is don’t compromise on the coating,” Bos says. He notes that when mixing solid wood with mass timber, it’s important not to look for an exact match in the finish if the wood species are different. “Especially in a transparent finish, the colour will always patina a little differently based on the oxidation process, so it’s best in these instances to seek complementary colours and tones for the different types of wood.”
When using different coating formulas or applying the same coating to different species of wood, Bos suggests working with the coating manufacturer to obtain samples and ensure the appropriate colour and transparency are achieved.
The Versatility of Mass Timber
Mass timber offers incredible versatility for manufacturers, architects, and builders, and it is transforming what is achievable with wood construction. These timber frame companies have proven themselves to be mass timber “mix masters” that not only build remarkable structures with mass timber but also understand the value of protecting the investment in the wood.
1. This structure is entirely mass timber with glulam and CLT post and beams on the exterior and CLT floors, walls, and ceilings. Everything was protected with Sansin finishes. (Courtesy of Woodpecker European Timber Framing)
2. The posts on the washrooms are solid sawn wood while some of the beams are glulam. The ceiling is mass timber. (Courtesy of Woodpecker European Timber Framing)
3. The beams and posts extending out of the building, as well as the railing posts, are solid sawn wood. The ceiling is constructed with CLT. (Courtesy of Woodpecker European Timber Framing)
4. This residential project features glulam and timber. (Courtesy of International Timberframes)
Sansin’s low-VOC wood finishes accentuate stunning Redwood, Douglas Fir, Iroko & Red Oak on interior and exterior of home
Editor’s Note: Photos of the Kappe Home in Berlin are available here. Please photo credit Jürgen Nogai.
Strathroy, Ontario, Canada – April 17, 2024 – The Sansin Corporation, a global leader in environmentally friendly, high-performance wood protection, is pleased to announce the completion of the first-ever Kappe Architects-designed home outside North America. The home is in Kleinmachnow, Germany, near Berlin. Sansin was the exclusive provider of interior and exterior wood protection and finishes for massive amount of wood on the structure.
The residence was designed by renowned Southern California firm Kappe Architects and features quintessential design elements made famous by founder Ray Kappe. The home utilizes redwood imported from California, Douglas Fir beams, Iroko molding and Red Oak flooring. All the wood inside and outside the residence is protected with a comprehensive system of Sansin’s high-performance, low-VOC finishes.
Precision Coat SDF (on the Iroko, Douglas Fir and Red Oak): Specially formulated for factory finishing with oils and resins that penetrate the wood, Precision Coat SDF provides outstanding weather and UV protection. It creates a monolithic bond with wood for long-term durability that won’t crack, peel or blister.
Precision Coat SDF Topcoat (on the Douglas Fir and Iroko): Highly resistant to wear, Precision Coat SDF Topcoat doesn’t discolor over time, and enhances the UV protection – and beauty – of Precision Coat SDF. Because of its high solids content, Precision Coat SDF Topcoat enhances the look of the base coat with beautiful, saturated color and a full, rich finish.
Precision Coat WoodForce (on the Redwood siding): This high-performing factory finish provides exceptional protection and won’t break down with exposure to sunlight, retaining its water-repellency and protecting against weathering and wood rot. Because it erodes gently over time, long-term maintenance is easy with a fresh coat of WoodForce, as needed.
“We selected Sansin initially for its experience working with redwood – that’s knowledge that is hard to find in Germany. But as we learned more about Sansin’s products, we knew we wanted to use them for all the wood on the house,” said Lars Triesch, homeowner. “Sansin’s consulting service was excellent. The company supported us in finding the right combination of products for the protection and aesthetic we were looking for.”
Sansin’s Managing Director Sjoerd Bos says this home is an excellent example of what Sansin excels at. “We have a lot of experience collaborating with architects, contractors and builders to recommend a complete wood protection system that protects the investment in wood and brings out the beauty of the wood grain without the harsh chemicals found in other finishes,” he said. “It’s a magnificent project, and we were proud to partner with Lars to bring this one-of-a-kind residence to life.”
Sansin’s architectural consulting program, Sansin IRIS, helps architects achieve coating quality and maintenance goals. Completed projects are then eligible for Sansin Care, which offers guidance to ensure projects are proactively maintained.
About Architect Ray Kappe Ray Kappe (1927-2019) was a Los Angeles-based architect and educator, and the founder of the Southern California Institute of Architecture. Kappe was recognized for his commitment to sustainability, use of wood, and airy designs that merge indoor and outdoor living. He pioneered the prefabrication of residences that embody Southern California Modernism, a design aesthetic that is carried forward by his sons Ron and Finn Kappe. Learn more at www.kappearchitects.com.
About Sansin For more than 35 years, Sansin has been the only wood protection company focused exclusively on researching and developing environmentally friendly, water-borne interior and exterior wood products and technologies that deliver outstanding color, durability and performance without the toxicity found in conventional stains. Sansin wood treatments, finishes and preservatives use water, not petroleum solvents, to deeply penetrate and protect wood naturally, from within. Headquartered in Ontario, Canada, Sansin has offices in the Netherlands and Rhode Island and dealer locations in Canada, the U.S., Europe and Australasia. To learn more about The Sansin Corporation, or how to become a Sansin preferred dealer, visit www.sansin.com.
