Spruce wood is frequently used as a construction material due to good mechanical properties and accessibility. However, because of its susceptibility to decay, it is essential to protect the wood to extend its service life in extreme environments. Nevertheless, the impregnated wood is still exposed to biotic and abiotic factors. For this reason, we evaluated the changes of relevant properties, namely mechanical and sorption properties after the usage of spruce wood, protected with copper-ethanolamine biocidal products. Samples were obtained from the bottom and the top of a utility pole used for several years in Budna vas, and a fence that was 10 years in use in Kranjska Gora. Bending strength, compression strength and percentage of water-soluble substances were determined. In all the 3 criteria the top of the telephone pole demonstrated the best mechanical properties; it was the least exposed to degradation conditions. The sorption properties were determined with the measurement of the capillary uptake of water, which is one of the parameters indicating the susceptability of wood to the fungi. Higher the water absorption, lower the resistance to fungi. As expected the top of the pole exhibited the highest water-repellency, even higher than non-aged and one year aged spruce wood, both protected with Silvanolin, a copper-ethanolamine based preservative. The fence demonstrated just a little worse water-repellency, while the bottom of the pole was already degraded by fungi, and thus low water repellent.
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