Only 4 of 45 woodpaint products get approved in Swedish test.

And half are so full of mold and algae that they discouraged.

I wrote about Jotun wood paint a couple of years ago.
http://jb-service.blogspot.se/2013/05/jotun-wood-paint-and-wood-cleaner.html

Now the Swedish insurance company Folksam has tested 45 paints over two years.

The aim was to test the quality of products, so that consumers can make good choices. The results are discouraging: Only 4 of 45 products get approved. - This is the worst result ever since Folksam started testing outdoor colors, writes Folksam in the test report.

This is the fifth test in a row from Folksam , and the 45 types of paint are tested at four locations in the country for a period of two years. All products are evaluated on both function, as well as environmental and health aspects.

There are so few products that meet the criteria for function and environment which is a dissaster for manufacturer. Painting a house is an expensive project and choosing a bad product makes it even more expensive, writes Folksams paint expert Stefan Hjort in the report. More than half of the products are so full of mold, algae or other problems after two years, that Folksam completely discourages purchasing them. Three of the products were already halfway through the test over the limit of acceptable mold growth. Folksam states that the reason for even poorer performance compared with previous years, may have been a more favorable climate for microorganisms, and that this test includes multiple low colors than before. Here you can find the entire test with test results, and you can check if the paint you use is included.

The best products

The test was conducted in the period 2013 to 2015, and each product is tested on 24 panels divided into four test stations from south to north, as well as a reference panel per color stored indoors. The products were rated "good choice", "doubtful choice "or" not recommended." The test winners are classified as "good choice" for function / durability and the environment:

Beckers Akrylatfärg Max

Beckers Perfect Akrylatfärg

Falu Vapen Fasadfärg

Alcro Consist Täckfärg

The four listed products are the only ones that passed both the function / durability and environmental / health test, but there are several that get passed the function / durability. Nine products are overall good choices when it comes to durability. In addition to the ones mentioned before, these are good choices when it comes to durability.

Falu reds (linseed oil-based paints)

Flügger 100 Aqua (top coat)

Flügger 98 Aqua (deck stain)

Gjøco manor Maximal (top coat)

Hornbach / Schulz uteakrylat (top coat)

The list of paint and stain that gets stamped "not recommended" is long. Note that many of these products promise things like "Protection for up to 15 years" (ex. from Rustas Premium Fasadfärg/facade paint). These products are the same which have so much mold and algae growth after two years that you are discouraged from buying them.

Here are products that are not recommended by Folksam, after two years of testing.

 

Manufacturer	Product
Cuprinol	Fasadlasyr
Beckers	Perfect Oljefärg
Rusta	Premium Fasadfärg
Teknos	WOODEX Aqua Solid
Alcro	Modern Oljefärg
Beckers	Perfect Täcklasyr
Teknos	Tranemo reds
Alcro	Fasad Täcklasyr
Beckers	Tradition reds
Beckers	Fasadfärg Easy
Rusta	Oljefärg V
Kulturhantverkarna	Linoljefärg Fasad
Caparol	Carat Oljefärg
Engwall & Claesson	Fasadmatt
Ottosson Färgmakeri	Linoljefärg
Flügger	95 Aqua trälasyr
Teknos	Nordica Eko
K-rauta / Cello	Wintex
Jotun	Ultimate
Sigma	Sigma Life DÆK Extreme
Cuprinol	Fasadfärg Plus
Nordsjö	Tinova VX +
ÖoB / FärgLab	Housing color
Bauhaus / Swing Color	Oljefärg V
ÖoB / FärgLab	Oljefärg
Jula / Färgstaven	Träfasad / oljefärg

Blocked sanitary sewer.

The waste water was not flowing to the sanitary sewer.


The sanitary sewer had been working since 1974, without any problems. At first the waste water from the WC and shower was disappearing a bit slower than usual. Nobody was considering it to be any big problem before it completely "packed up".

It should be working like the picture below. Waste water and other waste coming to the sanitary sewer through the "in" pipe and water flowing out from the "out" pipe.

After an inspection of the sewer I noticed it was filled with water above the "out" pipe, which indicated the "out" pipe was blocked. The "out" pipe was opened up and cleaned, using high pressure water cleaner. The water started flowing through the "out" pipe and the level inside the sanitary sewer sank to the normal level. But, this did not explain the fact that the waste water from the house was not going anywhere.

The next thing to do was to dig a trench to get to the "in" pipe".

Close to the sewer I found a broken pipe. Pressure from the ground (2 meter/8 feet gravel in a steep hill) had broken the pipe. 

 

The pipe was replaced with a new one (110 mm.). 

Jotun wood paint and wood cleaner, really shitty products!

Painting a wooden house.

6 years ago I decided to paint my entire house. After some serious considerations I chose Jotuns wooden paint. The paint itself was bloody expensive (160 €/10 litre. In total I needed 90 litres. I bought as well 3 litres of Jotun wood cleaner in order to prepare the walls before painting. The wood cleaner costed approx. 10 €/ litre. I was really going to do this by the book :)

The walls were whitish before I started cleaning, using Jotun wood cleaner and it was still whitish after I had finished. Absolutely no difference whatsoever. I went into the kitchen and picked up a bottle of Fairy dish soap, mixed it with water and sprayed it on the wall. The dirt was "flowing" down the wall. The rest of the house was cleaned with Fairy dish soap. The result was superb and the cost was next to nothing. So much for Jotuns wood cleaner.

After the cleaning process was done I continued with painting the walls. The painting job itself was no problem. The problem was discovered 3 years later. 2 of the walls (red) are in an eastern direction. (Rain, snow and wind tend to come from that direction.) The paint on these two walls had started to peel of. The 6 other walls seem to be ok.

I removed the loose paint and repainted the walls with Alpina wood paint. Today, 3 years later the walls still looks like they were just painted. Fingers crossed.

Rebuilding a kitchen

Old kitchen furnitures.

 Old kitchen furnitures removed

New electric cables, conduits (plastic tubes) and electric installation boxes installed.

Wooden beams inserted in between the old beams in order to strengthen the wall and to have strong points for fixing the new kitchen furnitures.

Rebuilding the walls with new plasterboards.

Using some plasterboard filler.

Installing stop valves onto the hot and cold water pipes.

Installing the new kitchen furnitures.

A new kitchen sink and water tap with all the pipes and tubes in place.

Tiling the walls above kitchen worktop and installing the kitchen fronts.

Just some coving, a new ceiling lamp, some door handles and knobs left :)