IPÉ exotic wood is very popular for outdoor terraces and patios but also for flooring. Livos products are suitable for both indoor and outdoor projects. Find out about the right oils for exotic wood in each situation.

Red pine wood is a very popular material because of its low cost. To preserve a new red pine floor, oil is an excellent option. But if your floor has already been protected by varnish and if you want to oil it, you must first go through a few steps. No matter the case, thanks to this article, you will be able to avoid common mistakes linked to sanding and applying oil on red pine wood.

On Kunos labels, can be seen a warning indicating that the oil used to treat wood should not be used on veneer, pressed wood or inside furniture. Here is why this warning does not apply in North America.

A wood retaining wall converts hills in your yard into an easily navigable land. The disadvantage of these wooden walls is that they can rot quickly. You must find the right product to protect your retaining wall. Here’s how you can protect your wood retaining wall in three easy steps:

Hardwood floors are one of the more popular choices for floor surfaces in homes these days, and it’s not hard to see why. The very distinct, warm look of hardwood gives homes a much friendlier, more “homey” look and feel. The texture is also pleasant as well, and, unlike stone or tile, tends to feel much warmer to exposed feet.

 

But there’s one decision homeowners need to make about how to protect their hardwood floors. This boils down to one of two choices; oil or varnish. We’re going to explain what the hardwood oil floor choice is, and why you might want to consider this.

If you own or are thinking of getting a bamboo countertop installed in your kitchen, you’re making a great, distinctive choice! Bamboo wood is a rising star for wooden surfaces because it is ecologically sound. Not only is it a robust, versatile wood, its tropical roots mean that it is one of the most renewable wood sources on the planet thanks to how quickly it grows. If you’re interested in protecting it—or even restoring an old one—we can help make it a successful project!!

When it comes to wood flooring, more and more DIY’ers are turning to wood pallets as their material of choice.

 

Pallet wood flooring makes a wonderful option for both aesthetics and durability, but there is more to it than simply tearing apart some wooden pallets and laying them down. Pallet wood flooring is ideal for cottages, chalets, backyard decks, basements, kitchen floors, or even the floor of a pontoon.

 

However, without the right pallet wood treatment, you may end up with a host of problems that threaten your flooring project and require you to tear it up and start over.

 

Nowadays health and environment are two major concerns. This is why, when considering choosing a finishing product, natural ecological products should be favored. Did you know that Livos' flax-based oils are the most efficient ecological substitute for acrylic or urethane-based varnishes or traditional oil stains?

 

Products for treating wood have existed for centuries. In fact, did you know that flax oil and tung oil have been used for more than 2000 years? Indeed these have been known as excellent in protecting wood against damage caused by water and sunshine. Evidence of their use has even been traced back to many years before Christ in products derived from the flax used in ancient civilizations in Egypt...

You're having a nice and joyful evening but now... too bad!, you just realized that your guest spilled his glass of wine on your beautiful oiled wooden countertop. A little embarrassed, he was away and now tells you what he did... after 20 minutes. You wipe but it's done, the counter is stained.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you just had to tell him: "Don’t worry!" And wipe the spilled wine and see a beautiful wood countertop with no stain left!

 

In this article you will discover how Livos products can guarantee you better stain resistance compared to the competition.

You’ve just seen a beautiful bathroom in your favorite magazine! The bathroom’s vanity is made of wood. You really like the look, but a question comes up: "Can I actually put a wooden vanity in the bathroom?". Didn’t I hear that humidity is wood’s worst enemy? Yes, but there is a but. It all depends on the wood’s specie and its protection. Between varnish, epoxy and oil, there are certainly major differences in look, but in the end, all these products will provide a water repellent treatment to your bathroom furniture.

By reading this article, you will see that if you follow a few guidelines, you will be able to give your new bathroom a nice look with a wooden furniture whether it is coated with varnish, epoxy or an eco-friendly oil.

There are hundreds of outdoor stains. There are natural oil stains often found in specialized hardware stores, home made products found in cabinetmaking centers, high-end and low-end stains in large-scale renovations centers... In front of all these choices, it can be difficult to find our way out of this! Yet all products have their share of particularity which distinguishes them from each other. 

Your old wooden windows are 25? 50? 100 years old? Worn, damaged and covered with a peeling paint, they completely lost their former look. Is the glass of your window damaged? Or is it the casing or the sash? It may be tempting to replace them with white PVC windows for the modern look but if your goal is a good return on investment by saving on energy costs, you might be surprised to learn that you will have to wait 100 years or even 250 years before seeing the color of your money, much more than the average life of these new windows¹! 

(1) Harris, J. and Blasnik, M. (2007) Reference design guide for highly energy efficient residential construction. 64 pages. (https://library.cee1.org/system/files/library/1755/935.pdf)

You have been studying with scrutiny and discovered that cedar is one of the best wood species for your patio. But you hit a snag. Most of the finishing products you know that worked properly on your old pine or spruce patio now have a hard life on your new cedar patio. Result, you are at your 3rd full stripping and are about to put the ax in your patio! Hold on!!

Cedar is a wood containing an oily sap (tannin) that repels most conventional stain products. However, this feature is also what makes this wood resistant to fungi, insects and other rotting agents. In addition, cedar wood is naturally stable and will be much more resistant to cracking and deformation. So, with the right finishing product, you’re still in good hands with your cedar patio.

In this article, I will introduce you the 4 steps that will make you comfortably enjoy your cedar patio. Note that these steps are important to follow. You will not want to live your old nightmare again!

Do you know Livos United States? It is a company that started its activities in 2004 through Ghislain Lebel, a cabinetmaker from Canada. Prior to 2004, Mr. Lebel mainly manufactured AVIVIA kitchen cabinets in St-Séverin de Proulxville near the famous Western Festival of St-Tite.

Disgusted by polyurethanes and other toxic lacquers commonly used in the manufacture of kitchen cabinets, Mr. Lebel saw that the containers of these hazardous products were accumulating in his factory. Moreover, although the safety rules were strictly respected and the employees were wearing a mask to work, the atmosphere was very harmful and the smell highly unpleasant. One day, Mr. Lebel decided that he no longer wanted to offer his employees this highly carcinogenic environment neither did he wanted those hard to recycle residues.

Have you ever wondered what was the content of your outdoor finishing product? How can we make the right choice if we do not know what we are buying? At Livos, we declare the full list of our raw materials so that you can make educated choices and be confident toward what you buy. 

Less expensive than cedar or spruce, hemlock is the hardwood of soft woods. This characteristic makes it a perfect wood for structures in humid environments such as docks, little wood bridge, fences, flower boxes and garden structures in greenhouses that can also become very humid.
 
Eastern hemlock, a wood well known in the eastern province of Canada, is appreciated for its rustic appearance with rich tone. In recent years, this type of wood has become popular for the structures, sidings and can even be used to build terrace. Because hemlock can easily cracked, attention must however be paid to fibre rolled up near the saw cutline when drying.
 
Known for its resistance to weather and humidity, hemlock nevertheless remains fragile to graying. If it is used in an apparent way and you do not want your wood to become greyish, you will have to add a finishing product to your hemlock siding. However, since it is an open-pore wood, it requires more product than another type of wood, but its protection is thus improved.

 

Mushrooms, bluishness, peeling, graying ... over the years, your dock will not be immune to damage caused by bad weather. By knowing how to choose the finishing product for our dock, we can avoid many worries. This is why it is important to understand the type of dock we are dealing with and to know the characteristics of a good protective product against the biggest assailants on our platforms: water and UV rays from the sun.