Frequently Asked Questions

Paint sits on top of the wood as an opaque film and hides the natural grain, while wood finishes (melamine, PU, or clear lacquer) are designed to protect the wood while letting its natural grain and colour show through, often enhancing it. Which one to use depends on whether you want the wood's texture visible or want a solid, uniform colour.

Standard interior wood finishes aren't built for direct sun and rain exposure and will degrade faster outdoors. For outdoor wood - garden furniture, doors, pergolas - use an exterior-grade or marine-grade wood finish, which includes UV-resistant resins and better moisture resistance to prevent the wood from greying, cracking, or warping.

Matte and satin finishes are popular for large furniture and flooring because they're more forgiving of everyday scuffs and show fewer fingerprints. Gloss finishes give a richer, more reflective look that highlights the wood grain beautifully but shows scratches and dust more readily, so they suit statement pieces and doors more than high-traffic surfaces.

Our PU and melamine wood finish ranges form a protective film that reduces moisture absorption into the wood, which in turn makes the surface less hospitable to termites and fungal growth. For heavy termite-risk areas, we'd still recommend treating the timber with a wood preservative before finishing, since the finish alone isn't a substitute for pest treatment.