Tricoya

[annieigma]

Hi The builder and all,

Have you heard of Tricoya? I think its external waterproof MDF. I need to fill the gap from the roof to the top of the wall on the new sloping roof, and really need to do it in a sheet rather than plastic slats or similar ( but if thats the best or cheapest, we will go for it). We have a small problem, the upstairs toilet pipe comes out of the wall and turns downward and upward, so we have to cut the timber around it. any ideas??
thanks again,
Annie.

[The Builder]

There's always a bit of confusion over "waterproof" and "water resistant".
It's an MDF, for internal and external use.

Ordinary flooring chipboard is "water resistant", but wouldn't last five minutes externally.

Tricoya is, effectively, waterproof in that it can be left untreated, and nothing would get through it. It would simply discolour.
Painting or staining in the usual way is fine.

Being an MDF, it can be moulded with a router. Something that is near impossible with conventional plywoods and the like. I think it's an ideal choice in your situation, Annie. Something like a "Solignum" coloured stain would look the business on it.

With your soil pipe: This may not be practicable, but best results are from taking off the soil stack, fitting the board, then drilling it accurately to let the pipe pass through. You just drill a hole maybe 4 or 5 mm larger than needed, then filling with a bead of silicone or external caulk to finish. That gives you an expansion tolerance for movement etc. Never do a tight fit. It'll move and distort all over the place eventually.

The alternative... scribing the board around the pipe, would work. Allow the same tolerance, then cut a small piece of board to fit over the gap around the back of the pipe.
Either that, or box the pipe in, which could look odd. No chance of a pic is there, Annie?

[annieigma]

Hi Builder,
thanks for the answer, what i was hoping for. i can take a picture, no problem, but how do i post it on answerbank? or do i send it to a cloud thing?
thanks again, great stuff,
annie.

[The Builder]

Try "Tinypic", Annie................

http://tinypic.com/

Once you've uploaded your pic, simply copy the address, and post a link to it on here. It's very useful. You'll soon get the hang of it.

[cliftonpete]

Hi, to clarify a comment by a previous contributor. Medite Tricoya Extreme, is not waterproof per se, but is highly resistant to water. The wood substrate has been modified by a propriatory process called acetylation. It effecivley renders the cell walls impenitrable to water molucules, thus making the resultant panel, extremeley durable and with dimonesional stability performance and thickness swell in the same space or better than compact laiminates, cement fibre panels and the like. It does have the same machining characteristics as "normal" MDF, but is a little more abrasive to cutters. It will still cut and machince well. You can stain it or paint with an acrylic exterior good qaulity paint, such as Dulux Weathershield or similar.
As The Builder has said, it far outperforms any other plywood or wood panel on the market and, although more expensive than PVC, will give a much better look. If painted well, it will not need to be painted again for up to 10 years, and even then should only require a wash downwith mild detergent and re-painted. No need to fill cracks or splits, or repair damage, as it should'nt be effect by the weather.
Hope this helps.

Peter Clifton - Product Manager for Medite Tricoya Extreme (the manufacturers of this excellent product). check out the web site www.meditetricoya.com

[rockyracoon]

Cliftonpete, purely out of interest, can I ask how you found yourself on this forum, do you get notifications when your product is mentioned on the web or do you google and look for yourself.

[annieigma]

rockyracoon, and builder,
i have done loads of internet searching on this MDF, and it does seem to be good, but, i also checked out marine ply, this also has its strange promotions, similar to the wood i bought for joists, graded by the less knots and nothing else. The MDF, as builder said, can be routed etc. the ply is more delicate. i checked the price with travis Perkins, and the difference in a sheet was about £10 more for the MDF, but the advertising for the MDF worried me, looks like they spent a load of money to promote it, also feed back on this product shows people saying they had it installed 20 years ago and its as good as the day it was fitted??? has it been around that long?? I decided to go with marine ply, will seal all edges sevaral times before final fitting. builder, camera out tomorrow, pic to follow, and remember we are diy, not professionals, but must add, we have had many torrential downpours, and still dry.