The product has dried too slowly?

Quite often, various temperatures at certain times of the year can extend or speed up the drying times of wet protective coatings like the Intergrain UltraDeck Timber Oils. If the timber surface and air temperature is too cold on application, the deck coating will take longer to dry than what is quoted on the label. The same applies in very humid environments.

There are a number of reasons why a coating, whether water-based or oil-based, may dry slower than expected. These reasons include:

1. Application and/or drying in low temperatures. The temperature of the substrate can be quite a bit lower than the air temperature. That is why, for example, floor tiles feel cool in summer, even if the air temperature is above 30⁰ Celsius. Both the air and substrate temperatures need to be over 10⁰ Celsius.

2. Application and/or drying in humid conditions.

3. Excessive film thickness.

4. Application over a previous coating or product that was insufficiently cured.

5. Application over grease or wax (“contamination”). Other types of contaminants include:

Silicone (for example, from window sealants).

Cooking oil.

Some types of household cleaners.

6. Application onto naturally oily timbers.

Some timber species are naturally oily, for example, Spotted Gum, Tallowwood and Brush.

It is important to note that even within a species, the amount of natural oils in the timber can vary greatly. For example, one piece of Spotted Gum may contain more oil than the next. Not every piece of oily timber will cause drying problems. Neither will every coating job done have drying problems.

For reasons 1-4, the coating will eventually dry. Once dry, its performance properties will be as expected for the product.

In reasons 5 and 6, the coating may eventually dry but may not attain its expected hardness level. It may also have adhesion problems and/or variable gloss in the finish.