Abstract

Physical, mechanical and aesthetic properties were evaluated on structural boards as plywood and oriented strand board (OSB). The boards were covered by two commercial superficial protectors for wood that do not form films, and were maintained outside with no other protection during one year, in test field, according to the ASTM norm D1006:1973. Loss of mechanical properties was statistically determined and the influence of exposure time on the physical and aesthetic properties were evaluated. The main conclusions were that the protection of the used coverings was not effective and the main hypothesis that the non-forming film protect the surface and that typical defects of cracking, erosion and discoloration do not appear, was not proved. It was not observed qualitative differences between both protectors, so the higher price of one of them is not justified.