Is aquatron to compare with hydrophobic injection of exterior walls ?

Yes, but most hydrophobic treatment of exterior walls is water repellent but not breathing. The aquatron concept does not fill the cell structure in a way that water/humidity can leave the substrate. This “umbrella” principle is used in high quality rain clothing. Water cannot get in but humidity easily leaves the clothing.

Cedar shelves cover the west-side of my house. After many many years they are not any more gray but more black. Can Aquatron help ?

Aquatron cannot restore the clock. Your cedar shelves are not yet gray due to the rain I suppose but probably heavily radiated by UV. The standard Aquatron will rather help to make graying uniform. The siloxanes in the product are transparent and UV neutral. Aquatron UV on the contrary will filter UV radiation. The damage to your wood cannot be fixed with a layer of Aquatron. Aquatron is only able to prevent your cedar to rot totally in this stage. In other words, stabilising the process.

How much Aquatron do I need per m2 ?

Hard to tell. Depends on the wood. Smooth wooden surfaces or rough ?  Humidity of the wood ? Pine-tree, oak, cedar ? Old wood, fresh wood ? Rule of thumb : somewhere between 5-10m2 per liter per layer.

Can I mix aquatron with acrylic paint ?

Yes, you can. We advise 10 parts aquatron and 1 part acrylic. The color is milky and will slightly cover the wood.

How long does it take before the beading effect is effective ?

Polymerisation of the product takes 14 days. After that the cellstructure is hard from the inside and will repel water.

Normally, wood has 12-15 % humidity, may the wood contain more water ?

Wood with 15-20% humidity is already relatively dry. The higher the humidity, the less siloxanes can penetrate/impregnate. Treating really wet wood is not wise but Aquatron will in this case behave better dan paint of course due to the lower layer thickness.

May Aquatron be applied on prepainted acrylics ?

Sure, but slight sanding is not forbidden and absolutely necessary if the substrate is too glossy.

What is a polysiloxane ?

Chemists call them “polyorganic siloxanes” mostly used in anti graffiti paints, lubricants or silicone rubber. Polysiloxanes are widely used to protect mineral substrates like concrete, bricks and textiles to make them water repellent. Siloxanes have few ecological and toxicological impact.

For the specialists : this is the siloxane chain used for Aquatron :

What is the difference between a treatment with wax and a treatment with aquatron ?

Wax breaks down under UV radiation (sunlight). Aquatron does not, is totally transparant  for UV Radiation. This does not mean of course that the wood will not gray. If you don’t want the graying, then buy Aquatron UV.

How long does the wood benefit of the beading effect ?

Some samples in the lab have been weathered for … 17 years (they were forgotten in the bookkeeping of the lab, really). Notwithstanding they had not given in their water repellency. As there are > 6000 types of wood and not all of them can be treated in time, we stay very modest with the qualities of the product and guarantee at least 5 years water repellency.

I’m a joiner. My clients usually require expensive meranti, paddock, cedar, afcelia etc.. Can aquatron be used as a primer against rain, dust, let’s say a first protection ? It applies easily and quickly but is it good too ?

Yes Carl, but make no mistake in advising your clients. Joinery can be very smooth and the wood very hard. Only some of the silicones will be aborbed, the rest remains on the surface. But that’s no problem as they will act very water repellent what is the purpose after all. Protection = OK. But it may happen that adherence is not equal everywhere. For this reason we recommend in general to sand before applying the “real” primer.

Does Aquatron contain fluorocarbonaten or any solvent ?

Not at all. Earlier versions did contain fluorcarbon but as EC directives want to get rid of them, we followed strictly the new regulation.

Can I use Aquatron to impregnate bricks, concrete, blue stone etc ?

Sure but the product is hydrophobic but not oil resistant.

Is graying necessary ?

Graying is a natural proces due to UV Radiation of the sun. Gray wood is as strong as before. It’s purely an esthetical issue.

You do not like gray ? Buy Aquatron UV.