Piveteau Bois has undergone a remarkable development in recent decades. In Sainte-Florence near the French Atlantic coast, the company produces not only lumber, but also planed timber, façade elements, wooden flooring and load-bearing timber construction products, such as glulam or CLT. The company always strives to make the best possible use of local resources. “That’s why our glued timber products are made from Douglas fir, various types of pine and only partly from spruce wood,” Piveteau Bois’s Simon Leseux explains. His colleague, Gwénolé Lees, adds that different types of wood are also used for hybrid products. For example, the company produces hybrid cross-laminated timber using different types of pine for the middle layers and spruce for the top layers.
Both Leseux and Lees state that during the first attempts 20 years ago, bonding was the biggest challenge when it came to these hybrid structures. “Compared to spruce, our local types of wood are much more difficult to bond, but thanks to our long-standing, reliable partner Henkel, this is no longer a problem.” The French company has been using Henkel Engineered Wood’s Loctite HB S line for load-bearing glued timber products since 2010. Henkel Engineered Wood on its part has over 30 years of experience with one-component PUR-based adhesives for the timber construction industry.
“Our HB S line now has an open time of two to 180 minutes, which gives our customers great flexibility,” Olga Golgor, Head of Sales and Application Engineering Europe, says about one of the key advantages of the adhesive system and adds that the company also offers suitable primers for types of wood which are difficult to bond. Many of the primers can be used online (without flash-off time).
Solid partnership
Since every type of wood and every company has different requirements for an adhesive system, intensive development work and customer proximity are key priorities for Henkel Engineered Wood. “We have equally strong teams in the laboratory and on site where they oversee a project from start to finish and work in close collaboration with the customer,” Amina Terroux, responsible for the French and Swiss markets at Henkel Engineered Wood, says, summarizing an essential part of the corporate philosophy. Leseux confirms this approach: “Working with Henkel is always very productive and based on cooperation. We usually come up with a new idea or mention a problem that Henkel then implements or solves in close coordination with us.”
New products
In addition to safety in general, fire safety and sustainability also play a key role in the adhesives sector. Henkel has recently developed products which specifically take both aspects into account. With the Loctite HB X adhesive line, the company has succeeded in achieving a charring rate comparable to that of mass timber in surface gluing, whereas the Loctite HB S Eco’s CO2 emissions are over 60% lower, based on cradle-to-gate lifecycle assessments.
Those two products are not yet in use at Piveteau Bois, but this could soon change, according to Leseux and Lees: “We are examining their use, not least in order to maintain our innovative momentum.”
