Sunday night I was sitting watching The Simpsons, my favorite TV show, when I got a call from my dad. She was watching the Extreme Home Makeover show and noticed that they were building the house out of blue wood. He asked me “Why is this wood blue?” Confused, I was like “blue wood?” I asked him if it looked blue or was it blue, and he told me it was BLUE, the whole house. Not knowing what he was talking about, I did some research, on this blue wood he was talking about, and found some interesting facts about it.

For starters, the wood is actually called Bluwood. Bluwood is a two part preconstruction wood protection system. The wood has a film on it that helps prevent moisture from penetrating the wood and also protects against wood-feeding fungi and insects.

Any wood can be treated. The film can be applied to any type of wood, from 2×4 to OSB (oriented strand board). That means the subfloor, trusses, and even joists can have this film on them. It arrives at the job site pre-treated and can be sawn, nailed and painted. Since the wood is pre-treated, it also protects the lumber while it is being placed outside while the house is being built without protection (up to 6 months).

Termites This wood uses an insecticide and fungicide that prevents termites and fungi from attacking the wood and destroying its structural properties. The film clings to the fibers that termites like to eat, thus preventing them from being eaten.

The system. The first part of the two part system is the vapor barrier. The wood is wrapped in a film that creates a vapor barrier over the wood. This vapor barrier controls the absorption properties of the wood and does not allow it to absorb moisture, but it also allows the wood to breathe, letting the moisture inside escape. Kind of like a Tyvek home wrap. The second part of the system is a DOT tested insecticide and fungicide.

How does it work. The two-part system is applied to all six sides of the wood, which they call the infusion process. After the infusion process is complete, this prevents the wood from absorbing moisture, but allows moisture to escape from the wood. Then, over time, the “infusion ingredients” continue to migrate below the surface of the wood, thus, in theory, the inside of the wood is treated. I’ve never used the wood, so I don’t really know. I guess when you cut the wood it’s still protected. Through this process, the ingredients bind to the wood at the cellular level.

Less suction cups that split and frizz. Since wood has this vapor barrier, the film controls the rate at which moisture escapes from the wood. Preventing the wood from cupping, splitting and/or bending, something we encounter more often today than ever before due to the fast milling process. So no more going to a big box home improvement store and swapping out a stack of 2×4s to find the 2 you need to be straight.