Marc Riopelle

A beautiful lakeside log and timber home is protected inside and out with Sansin.

This magnificent home, which is located on the shores of Okanagan Lake near Vernon, British Columbia, was built for an owner who really knows and appreciates wood. He owns sawmills in Alberta and wanted his lakeside estate to feature as much wood as possible. He picked two signature logs from his own mill to stand at the entrance of the home. The remaining spruce glulam timbers and cedar tongue and groove woodworking were sourced by European Timberframe Corp, which has been exclusively using Sansin coatings since 2015.

For this project, European Timberframe factory-applied two coats of Sansin SDF in a custom color to the timbers and tongue and groove woodworking that is featured inside and outside the home. The company’s team of Swiss and German-trained builders have a reputation for delivering stunning custom timber frame homes of exceptional quality to clients in North America since 2008.

“Our goal is to build the kind of timber frame homes that generations of families have enjoyed for centuries in Europe,” says European Timberframe owner Daniel Kilchenmann. “When you’re building these legacy structures with this kind of long-term thinking, you want to make sure you only use the best products that will stand the test of time, and Sansin never lets us down.”

Kilchenmann adds that his company values the range of color tinting available for Sansin coatings. “You can get any color you want with Sansin, while other companies are limited. We always create samples for our customers with the color codes on the back of the wood panels, and we have a really cool collection of Sansin colors to share with our clients now.”

An Investment in Wood

This home is a showcase of wood and features 704 different pieces of spruce glulam timbers, which equates to 24,600 board feet of timbers and a total surface area of 14,000-square feet. There are an additional 4,000-square feet of cedar tongue and groove planks. The spruce glulam timbers were imported from Austria to ensure the highest quality.

“If we built everything out of local Douglas fir, we would simply run out of trees,” explains Kilchenmann. “By using glulam, we can cut the wood from much smaller trees, which gives us nearly limitless options with what we can do with the wood.” He adds that the wood is kiln-dried, resulting in timbers that are incredibly stable, meaning fewer cracks, twists and checking.

European Timberframe applies Sansin in its factory. “We have an applicator who is simply the best and does all of our staining piece-by-piece by hand,” Kilchenmann describes. “The color of the spruce is very light and uniform, so the coating looks very even and once applied it makes it hard to see that the timbers are laminated.”

Sansin SDF: A Superior, Penetrating Finish

Sansin SDF provides lasting protection and brings out the beauty of wood. Its specially formulated oils and resins penetrate the wood, providing outstanding weather and UV protection in a wide range of natural, semi-transparent and even solid colors. Not only does SDF protect the outside of the wood, it also protects the inside by allowing the wood to “breathe”, which helps prevent moisture from getting trapped in the wood and causing rot.

About European Timberframe Corp.

European Timberframe Corp was co-founded by Daniel Kilchenmann who is a native of Switzerland. The company is built on two cornerstones: a commitment to timberframing with European quality and service, and the best and highest grade of materials you’ll find anywhere. “We want to build homes that last for generations, homes where memories are made!” says Kilchenmann. The company purchases Sansin’s products from retailer Decorworld Paint & Window Coverings in Vernon.

ABOUT THE SANSIN CORPORATION

For 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.

PRODUCTS USED IN THIS CASE STUDY

SDF

Penetrating one-coat finish for exterior wood.

Exceptionally versatile protection for siding, logs, decks and fences. Beautiful, durable, highly water-repellent, breathable and UV-resistant.

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More than 462 glulam beams are the signature feature at Hayward Field, a reimagined “theater” for track and field events.

Completed in 2020, the reimagined Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in Eugene is a “theater” for track and field events, including the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials and the 2022 World Athletics Championships. Funded by gifts from Penny and Phil Knight, Nike co-founder, and more than 50 other donors, the 12,650-seat stadium was designed by SRG Partnership and built by Hoffman Construction. Working in collaboration with the architect and builder, the Sansin Corporation and Western Archrib were integral in bringing the stadium’s signature Douglas Fir glulam structural wood pieces to life.

Mass Timber, an Iconic Choice

Mass timber was selected to showcase Oregon’s history, culture and timber industry. More than 462 Douglas Fir glulam structural wood pieces were used to create 77 unique curves, each containing six pieces of bent wood. The iconic wooden roof canopy was sourced by Western Archrib and protected with Sansin’s low-VOC architectural finishes.

Sansin’s Coating System: Durable & Beautiful

Sansin worked with the team to develop a comprehensive coating system that would bring out the character of the glulam pieces, while also providing maintainable protection from UV and moisture. A three-coat system from Sansin in a custom Golden Wheat color was chosen for its durability, beauty, and environmental profile. KP-12 UVW tinted to Golden Wheat is the first coat, offering a penetrating undercoat that helps to dimensionally stabilize the massive pieces of glulam and moderate water uptake while allowing the wood to breathe. This first coat also kicks off a three-layer strategy to build strong UV protection across the system.

The second and third coats comprise Sansin’s exterior clear topcoat, Precision Coat ENS. ENS is highly water repellent, building a breathable barrier. Sansin worked closely with the architectural team to develop a finish system that led to the beautiful final color, while maintaining clarity through to the wood grain. Prefinishing the glulam with two coats of the Sansin finish in the Western Archrib shop prior to shipment not only ensured proper preparation and adequate product coverage (mil thickness), it also protected the members in transit and in situ during construction. Prefinishing ahead of field acclimatizing helped reduce “checks” or newly opened surfaces as the wood settled. Per the specification, a final coat of Sansin’s Precision Coat ENS was applied at the track and field site allowing an opportunity to spot-finish any newly opened surfaces prior to applying the final coats over the entire surface.

Why Sansin?

There were numerous factors that contributed to the selection of Sansin, including the company’s professional and knowledgeable support team, its success with transparent wood coatings on previous projects, the durability of the coatings for an extended maintenance cycle, and the flexibility of the application process.

“Sansin was the ideal partner because they were able to accommodate the numerous color choices and products that could work well for the demanding exterior environment this wood would experience,” says senior manager of projects and technical services at Western Archrib. “Another important factor is that Sansin could provide long-term maintenance support for the client with a unique proactive aftercare program (called Sansin Care).”

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.

PRODUCTS USED IN THIS CASE STUDY

Precision Coat KP-12

Adaptable wood protection for industrial applications.

Dramatically improves topcoat performance for timbers, dimensional laminated lumber and engineered wood, while also protecting wood during construction. Can be used as the first coat of an architectural coating system.

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Precision Coat ENS

A beautiful premium finish with exceptional adhesion.

ENS is a tough, durable satin two-coat finish that can be applied to virtually any surface – from millwork, to siding, to decks and even to improve the performance of other coatings.

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