The 9th Year Inspection of Canadian Treated Lumber in Korea completed
To meet Korea government standards for treated lumber, Canada Wood Korea initiated a multiyear outdoor “field stake performance test” in 2010. Inspections were undertaken annually to review the progress and result. 2019 marks the ninth year of the test and the inspection was carried out by three experts, Ph.D., Rod Stirling, FPInnovations’ Manager of New Construction Materials from Canada, Ph.D., Jong Bum Ra, Professor of Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology, and Ph.D., Jae Yoon Ryu, Chairman of the Korea Wood Preservation Association.
The data collected from the inspection will be compiled and analyzed for the final report. However, the preliminary result shows the strong performance of both stakes for ground contact testing and samples for ground proximity testing, thus providing the scientific data supporting the applicability of the CSA Standard O80 Series for the residential application in Korea.
In 2010, stakes and samples of Canadian Spruce and Hemlock lumber treated to CSA O80 Standard in Canada were brought to Korea and installed in Jinju. One last year has left before reaching the 10th year, which many Korean researchers, scholars and regulators deemed the necessary testing period to prove the validity of the CSA O80 Standards in Korea.
Pressure-treated wood has been widely used as a durable construction and landscaping material in Korea and is an important market for Canadian wood products.