Can You Stain Accoya?

Having your windows, doors, conservatories or orangeries finished with a stain of your choice can truly be the finishing touch that brings your property together. If you’ve chosen to use Accoya wood in your home, you may be worried that you have to compromise on this final, more personal step.

Accoya is an environmentally-friendly engineered timber grown from sustainable sources that can provide a beautiful finish to your property. It undergoes a thorough treatment process for unshakeable strength and an extended lifespan of over 50 years.

But does this sustainability come at the expense of being able to make it your own with a stain?

Using Accoya wood won’t prevent you from applying a stain. Accoya is engineered to carry all the same qualities as the finest hardwood and softwood, and therefore you won’t be compromising your ability to finish it with semi and non-film forming paint systems, including stains or oils, to achieve the look you’re after.

Compatible Stains

Accoya wood is just as compatible with commonly used stains as most other timbers, but as a general rule you should always check with your supplier that the chemical formulation of your stain of choice won’t irritate the wood or leave undesirable results over time. Accoya recommend Teknos, Intergram and Cabot’s as preferred suppliers.

Both water-based and oil-based stains are compatible with Accoya, but be aware that oil-based products are absorbed quicker and in large quantities. As oils can also be a food source for surface growths and fungi, it’s recommended that you use a product containing a mouldicide.

Application Process

With Accoya, the same rules apply as with most other timbers. Anything that can stain wood will stain you as well, so always protect your eyes and skin by wearing safety glasses and disposable gloves. If working with an oil-based stain, there will be fumes, so ensure you’re working in a well-ventilated area.

Just to make sure you’ve made the right choice, always test the stain on a piece of scrap wood before committing to the real deal. After all, staining is a permanent process, and if you don’t like it, you’ll have to sand it all down and start over.

Once you’ve sanded down the surface of your Accoya to prevent your stain from catching on uneven timber fibres and coming out blotchy, you can begin coating!

Maintaining your Hardwood Conservatory

It is a belief among many that hardwood products require endless and costly maintenance, which is simply not true. If cared for correctly and with minimal maintenance, all of our products can last decades and will continue to look as good as the day they were installed.

Even before our conservatories are manufactured we consider the maintenance involved, and therefore choose only the highest quality materials to work with. Merranti, Oak, Sapele and Accoya are all sourced for their outstanding durability.

It doesn’t just stop at the wood – we use some of the best paints and stains on the market and generally treat our products with one coat of primer and three layers of topcoat, which provides an excellent level of protection.
However, to keep your conservatory looking its best we would suggest the following is undertaken:

Paintwork:
We suggest that the paintwork is checked once to twice per year. If any signs of deterioration are noticed they should be repaired immediately. A light key (rub) using fine sand paper is all that is required and a repaint using the original paint or similar will make the products look like new again.

On a more regular basis we suggest wiping the conservatory frames down with a warm, damp, soapy cloth. It’s that simple! We advise that the internal trims and beading be dried thoroughly after cleaning.

Locks, Hinges & Keeps:
It’s not just the wood that needs a looking after… Locks, hinges and keeps will need checking from time to time with any loose debris being removed.

Hinges should be cleaned occasionally to remove any dirt followed by one or two drops of 3 in 1 all-purpose oil being applied to the pivot.

Maintaining your hardwood conservatory really is that easy – so you’ll have all the time to relax and enjoy your extension, and admire the beauty of the natural hardwood finish!

If you have any other conservatory questions, or if you are interested in your very own bespoke conservatory, please feel free to contact us and speak to one of our expert team.