For bonding or gluing, Polyurethane glues should work well. Two part epoxies will work even better. Phenol-formaldehyde glues will also work if the board is lightly sanded and if you have a heated press.

In some cases "phenolic" adhesive can give a destruct bond. Generally, we assume that "phenolic" means "phenol formaldehyde" which is cross linked in the hot press. This is a classic wood adhesive which will bond to wood but not to polyolefin (the polymer portion of the JER sheets). Phenol-formaldehyde glues will work if the board is lightly sanded and if you have a heated press.

Others have used PVA to bond WPC to try and bond our sheet to laminates though this glue does not work well with our sheet. We have had better success with a water-based EVA emulsion. There is no chemical bonding but it works because it is stickier and more elastic than PVA.

Another suggestion is melamine urea formaldehyde (MUF) for the wood-to-aluminum bonding. This should give a good chemical bonding to roughed-up WPC but this type of adhesive has no elasticity. It may be acceptable if you use it with to bond the wpc sheet to wood because wood is more elastic and more compressible than PP-based WPC.

For the best bonding or gluing, hot melt polyurethane glues work well and two part epoxies work even better.

Sheets can be fastened mechanically either with nails or screw. Pre drilled screw holes and nail holes are suggested for all JERtech® sheets. The pre drilled holes should be made slightly oversized (as discussed above) to permit for thermal expansion and contraction of the sheet with temperature. The sheet will flex some with temperature changes and the oversized holes allow the sheet to flex with no damage. Drilled holes should be countersunk for best results. Installers should use a torque limiting drill at low speed to assist in preventing stripping of the drilled holes during installation.

Generally the sheets will stay indeformed at most teperatures. The sheets are polymer based and will absorb heat but should remain undamaged up to 80° - 90°C. Temperatures below freezing may cause brittleness in the sheet upon impact, depending on the base polymer and fiber loading.

Our standard sheeting does not come with UV inhibitors, but for an additional cost, UV inhibitors can be added to sheeting for outdoor performance. Like any wood product, fading due to the sun, will occur.

JERtech® sheets are made of two components, a polymer element and a bio fibre. The fibre, being a natural material, has a percentage of moisture in its structure. During production of our sheet, moisture is driven off as the bio fibres are encapsulated. This moisture is eventually regained through atmospheric moisture so that the original moisture level is regained and the sheets reach equilibrium. Once equilibrium is achieve, usually within 4 - 6 weeks, the sheets are resistant to additional moisture absorption and weight gain.

JER's scientists have examined the performance of JERtech® sheets with respect to moisture gain and loss with respect to temperature. In our tests, the sheets were heated for 40 hours at 190oF to determine the change in the sheet dimensions caused by moisture loss. The results suggested that after heating, the width and length had each decreased by 0.16% and the thickness had decreased by 1.25% which follows logically as the thickness is much less constrained than the other two dimensions. Total volume reduction therefore was 2.3%. Assuming this change was all moisture loss, it suggests that the moisture content in the wood element of the sheet decreased by about 4.6%.

Painting the outside will help by slowing down the rate of water ingress. I Painting the inside surface of the sheets is not necessary save as needed for aesthetics.

Specific gravity for our sheet will vary between 1.05 - 1.13 depending on the formula chosen and the base polymer in the formula.

The weight of our sheets is notably different. Our density is between 60 and 70 pounds per cubic foot, again depending on the formula. A 3mm sheet will weigh about 10 -11 kgs (23 lbs). A 16 mm sheet will weigh about 55 kgs (121 lbs).

The most reasonably accurate data we have is on flexural modulus for our sheet. PP-based board is about half as stiff as plywood. LDPE-based board is one third as stiff, making JERtech sheet not truly suitable in structural applications. Toughness such as Izod impact and Gardner impact are not done on plywood.

Sheets come from the JER factory with a smooth surface. The surface is similar to mdf in feel. Sheets may require added coats of paint to increase coverage although sanding and surface preparation can produce a smoother surface for paint or stain.

The sheets can be worked with standard wood working tools, table saws and routers, and can be given a smooth finished edge.

JERtech® sheets may be sanded to improve the surface or improve adhesion. Grits of 40 - 60 expose more fiber and increase bonding performance with adhesives. Sanding with finer grits can provide a smoother surface, suitable for painting or staining.

Physical properties of wood flour loaded sheets are very similar to those of the rice hull fibers. Rice hull fiber contains a notable concentration on silica. The added silica increases the hardness of the sheet produced with rice hull. Rice hulls are darker and may require added colorants to achieve color matches.

The sheets are paintable. For painting we suggest a good solvent based paint like an alkyd paint.

We have done staining tests on sanded and unsanded boards. Gel stains and oil-based stains appear to work quite well in both cases. Stained sanded board have an appearance much like a mahogany veneer.

Testing for flame performance is underway. These sheets are made with polyolefins, polyolefins are flammable by nature and can be given only limited flame resistance. The addition of the fiber may provide some added resistance to burn or char. JER is investigating the use of flame retardants in our sheet to achieve some level of flame resistance. Depending on the specific flame/smoke performance required, JERtech® sheet products may be suitable.

Depending on demand and availability of colorants, JER has the ability to color the sheets on line providing color throughout the sheet not simply on the surface. JER can work with a Pantone chart to determine what colors are available.

Termites usually prefer wood that is direct contact with the ground. JER can certainly add ingredients to the sheet that will kill termites/microbes (fungus and mold) and increase the longevity of the sheet, but since there is an infinite supply of termites, if they like the product they just keep coming. It is unlikely they would find the WPC a food source - too much plastic.

JERtech® sheets are made with varying levels of recycled raw materials depending on the chosen formula. If the sheets are ground up properly, they can be recycled into other products or reused to make more sheet.

Our standard sheet formula is about 50% fiber and about 40% polymer. The balance of the formula is bonding agents and micro ingredients needed to encapsulate the fibers. All the fiber used in our sheet is recycled. Polymer content can be of recycled sources depending on the formula chosen and the desired application.

Our sheets can be made in thicknesses between 3 mm and 15 mm.

Our sheet products can be made in standard widths of 1200 mm. Our sheets are typically 2400 mm long, though we can make custom lengths, longer or shorter than this.

Our standard production standards for sheet dimensions are +/- 10%.

Our sheet products are not foamed and JER does not offer a foamed sheet product.

This will depend on the product you select (which polymer, fiber type and thickness) and how the sheets are treated during cleanup. If the sheets are handled properly and cleaned without abuse, the number of times it can be reused will easily exceed 3, 4 or more uses.

The fact is that we choose not to price our sheet on the same level as standard plywood, OSB or MDF.

There are two reasons for this, 1) JER does not intend to be a competitor to these products. Wood polymer products are not glued masses of waste wood. The wpc products combine wood and polymers in our unique process that allows the user to get many of the best properties of wood and of the polymer. Our sheets are resistant to moisture absorption, rotting, warping and microbial growth. The sheets can be washed, colored (color throughout the sheet not just the surface), painted and worked with standard wood tools like routers and table saws. The sheets do not splinter and can be given a finished edge like solid wood. We are distinctly different from plywood, OSB and MDF. Our sheets will outlast theirs by many years of service. Manufacturers and consumers will not have to worry about replacing damaged or rotted products and can enjoy a more durable and cost effective product.

With the exception of metal and glass, all materials used in housing contain VOCs. This is true for plastic as well as for all manufactured woods such as plywood, MDF etc, which also contain formaldehyde and urea. Our WPC board will have some VOCs from the plastic and small quantities of formaldehyde that is always naturally present in wood. One must specify what levels of each chemical are permissible to satisfy any claim for "urea or formaldehyde free", with the full realization that this level will always be something greater than zero.

All natural fibers contain formaldehyde, it is the basic building block for organic life. All organic materials off gas formaldehyde as part of their decomposition process. What we can claim is that we do not add any incremental amount of formaldehyde or VOC's to our products. The encapsulation of our natural fibers greatly reduces the natural process of degradation.

JERtech® sheets may be laminated to make a thicker product. We have successfully laminated sheet up to 28 mm thick. However, this process is not a JER controlled procedure. JER contracts an outside vendor to laminate sheets for customer orders. Price and delivery will depend on the number of sheets to be laminated, thickness sought and availability of production time at the outside vendor.

JERtech® sheet products are sold by weight. Pricing is based on the net weight of each sheet, regardless of dimensions. Thus a sheet that is 12 feet long will weigh 1.5 times as much as an 8 foot sheet, and will be priced accordingly.

Yes. We have a Green Alliance with Jamplast, Inc. Established in 1994, Jamplast Inc. (www.jamplast.com) is a leading North American plastic raw material distributor of biopolymers, engineering polymers and commodity grade thermoplastics. The company is a one-stop source for prime, custom compounded, wide-spec, regrind, and reprocessed materials and provides more than 30 million pounds of raw thermoplastic material annually to customers worldwide. Jamplast is an authorized representative of JERtech® thermoplastic biocomposite compounds. For more information, call +1 (636) 238-2100 or e-mail .