Anyone have experience with Accoya?

[John TenEyck]

I wasn't thinking of using Sapele as part of that construction, more like pine. But now you've got me thinking about Sipo, or Sapele, my original alternative, because if you think Accoya is a paint grade only product then it's not going to work for what I want to do. I always appreciate your advise, links, and insights. Many thanks, Joe.

John

[Joe Calhoon]

I've never really had a problem proactively dealing with grain raising on any water based finishes, I was just wondering if the processing made it more immune to that or not, but it seems not. In my research into the stuff it seemed ideally suited to exterior, painted products with the rot resistance in tandem with the paintability. If someone could make it look nicer, it would be even more appealing....

I might be off base here but I seem to remember one of the European suppliers of water base finish saying you could skip the impregnating coat with Accoya as the water will not penetrate it. I might not be right about that and will check my notes.

[Joe Calhoon]

Another link for door parts
https://holz-schiller.de/?p=accoya_t...e&s=profi&l=EN

[Bill Dufour]

Sounds like this Accoya is a process not a wood type. Monterrey pine is a weak easily rotted wood so it seems like a poor starting point. Similar to the poor species used for rot treated lumber. They are using cheap, fast growing wood that no one would buy if they knew what species it really was.
Bill D.

[Livingston Johnston]

Ive used Accoya on a few door jobs that have high exposure and I have been really happy with it. It is really stable and machines easily as well. Customers really like to hear about the 50 year rot warranty. In Canada, I can only get it from Upper Canada but they seem to have good stock.

[John TenEyck]

Sounds like this Accoya is a process not a wood type. Monterrey pine is a weak easily rotted wood so it seems like a poor starting point. Similar to the poor species used for rot treated lumber. They are using cheap, fast growing wood that no one would buy if they knew what species it really was.
Bill D.

If you didn't know the cost, and one wood was more durable and required less coating maintenance than most others which would you choose? Now someone tells you they cost about the same. Which would you choose?

John

[John TenEyck]

Joe, I looked up the shrinkage values for Sipo and Sapele and they are within something like 0.1% both radially and tangentially. Both are quite a bit higher than True Mahogany. And everything is a lot higher than Accoya. Does your experience suggest the data for Sipo and Sapele are not really that close?

John

[John TenEyck]

Ive used Accoya on a few door jobs that have high exposure and I have been really happy with it. It is really stable and machines easily as well. Customers really like to hear about the 50 year rot warranty. In Canada, I can only get it from Upper Canada but they seem to have good stock.

Thanks for that info. What type of finish did you use on them?

John

[Joe Calhoon]

Joe, I looked up the shrinkage values for Sipo and Sapele and they are within something like 0.1% both radially and tangentially. Both are quite a bit higher than True Mahogany. And everything is a lot higher than Accoya. Does your experience suggest the data for Sipo and Sapele are not really that close?

John

John,
They are similar but I think Sipo more stable. I have had a couple bad experiences with Sapele for door building. I like it for windows where the sections are smaller. Unfortunately Sipo Is difficult for me to acquire in Colorado. Wish I had easy access to get Sipo from Rex lumber. Happy I live where I do though.

We have always used a lot of VG fir but since the price of that went up have been using a lot of quartered and plain sawn white oak for doors and windows. Only thing I don’t like about white oak is the weight.

[John TenEyck]

John,
They are similar but I think Sipo more stable. I have had a couple bad experiences with Sapele for door building. I like it for windows where the sections are smaller. Unfortunately Sipo Is difficult for me to acquire in Colorado. Wish I had easy access to get Sipo from Rex lumber. Happy I live where I do though.

We have always used a lot of VG fir but since the price of that went up have been using a lot of quartered and plain sawn white oak for doors and windows. Only thing I don’t like about white oak is the weight.

Thanks Joe. I was out in your area skiing several years ago. It's obvious why you are happy living there. VG fir around here costs $11/BF, if you can get it. Besides the price it's just too soft for me to consider using it for a door. I have used white oak, but it's seasonal expansion is even higher than Sapele. I saw a lot of cracked bottom rails and panels in West facing, exposed WO doors when I was out in Breckenridge last year. WO is weather resistant but it turns gray/black if the finish gets compromised. All considered, not high on my list of choices.

Have you used much Genuine Mahogany or Santos for doors? Both have lower seasonal expansion/contraction than Sipo and would appear to be good choices.

John

[Jamie Buxton]

I think accoya is a process brand name. There are other torrified woods out there. A local dealer offers torrified ash, which looks quite nice—kinda walnut brown, but with ash grain.

[John TenEyck]

I think accoya is a process brand name. There are other torrified woods out there. A local dealer offers torrified ash, which looks quite nice—kinda walnut brown, but with ash grain.

Accoya is not torrified (heated), it's acetalized (chemically treated). https://www.accoya.com/why-accoya/ But since you brought up torrified wood, have you used any for exterior doors?

John

[Jamie Buxton]

Accoya is not torrified (heated), it's acetalized (chemically treated). https://www.accoya.com/why-accoya/ But since you brought up torrified wood, have you used any for exterior doors?

John

umm.. I haven't examined the difference between torrified and acetalized, so I'm not much help here. And I don't know which of those processes applies to the browned ash at my local hardwood dealer.

[Livingston Johnston]

Paint finish. Ben Moore primer and aura finish paint

[Joe Calhoon]

Thanks Joe. I was out in your area skiing several years ago. It's obvious why you are happy living there. VG fir around here costs $11/BF, if you can get it. Besides the price it's just too soft for me to consider using it for a door. I have used white oak, but it's seasonal expansion is even higher than Sapele. I saw a lot of cracked bottom rails and panels in West facing, exposed WO doors when I was out in Breckenridge last year. WO is weather resistant but it turns gray/black if the finish gets compromised. All considered, not high on my list of choices.

Have you used much Genuine Mahogany or Santos for doors? Both have lower seasonal expansion/contraction than Sipo and would appear to be good choices.

John

John,
Door longevity depends on a lot of factors and don’t think you can judge any particular species by just looking at doors in the field. How it’s made and finished, how it’s maintained after a few years and exposure can determine the longevity.
no experience with Santos but used a lot of Genuine Honduran Mahogany up until it became hard to get. It was my favorite for sure.
Here is a pair of mahogany doors we built for a local historic hotel in town in 1980. 39 years ago. I took this picture about a year ago.
this is East facing with a small awning above. The owners maintained it well. I have other doors around in Mahogany, Oak and Fir. Some nice and some showing a lot of weather depending on the maintenance.
the South American Mahogany available now in my opinion is not so great. We used some on a window and door job 4 years ago and no comparison to the old Honduran Mahogany. Of course all Mahogany, especially African can vary depending on how it is processed from he mills.
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