Why do we use PVC?
When you buy a dovecote you want it to look good, and you want it to keep on looking good year after year. When you buy a wooden dovecote it looks good because the timber has been treated, filled, sealed, primed and painted. The problem is that these treatments don't last long, and after exposure to the elements for a relatively short period of time they will need re-application. This is a tiresome process but if you don't do it your beautiful dovecote will start to become an eyesore.
Take a look at these photographs of an expensive, treated and painted wooden dovecote after just three years mild exposure to the elements. This dovecote was actually outside but under an awning. To return this dovecote to anything you would want to have on show in your garden would take many painstaking hours of cleaning, rubbing down, priming, sealing and topcoating, then three years later you are faced with the same task again.
A wooden dovecote after 3 years exposure to the elements
Now you can see why we use PVC! There are plenty of other eco-benefits of using this polymer material over wood. Wood takes years to grow, virtually all of it grows abroad so has to travel many thousands of miles to reach our shores. It has to be split and dried, re-transported to timber merchants and re-transported to manufacturers. It has to be infused with poisonous chemicals to preserve it and coated with several other surface treatments to make it look good and protect it from the elements.
PVC on the other hand is produced at source, is produced as a finished material requiring no further treatments, is self-coloured requiring no paints or sealants, is completely stable and resistant to the elements and uses only half of the fossil fuel of any other plastic polymer.
Take a look at these photographs of an expensive, treated and painted wooden dovecote after just three years mild exposure to the elements. This dovecote was actually outside but under an awning. To return this dovecote to anything you would want to have on show in your garden would take many painstaking hours of cleaning, rubbing down, priming, sealing and topcoating, then three years later you are faced with the same task again.
A wooden dovecote after 3 years exposure to the elements
Click on any of the above pictures to see a full size image
When you buy a Fantail Dovecote built entirely of rigid sheet PVC you can be certain of many things:
- It will NEVER rot, warp, split, twist, leak, crack or peel.
- There are no nails to go rusty and no paint to fade.
- It is weatherproof and waterproof.
- It will NEVER need treating, sealing or painting.
- Being smooth finish you can clean it with a quick wipe over.
- Your doves (if you keep them) will appreciate that the reflective white walls and low thermal conductivity material keeps them cool in the summer and warm in the winter
- You can disinfect it (important if you do keep doves), hose it down or even jet wash it.
- It will look as good in years to come as the day you put it in your garden.
Now you can see why we use PVC! There are plenty of other eco-benefits of using this polymer material over wood. Wood takes years to grow, virtually all of it grows abroad so has to travel many thousands of miles to reach our shores. It has to be split and dried, re-transported to timber merchants and re-transported to manufacturers. It has to be infused with poisonous chemicals to preserve it and coated with several other surface treatments to make it look good and protect it from the elements.
PVC on the other hand is produced at source, is produced as a finished material requiring no further treatments, is self-coloured requiring no paints or sealants, is completely stable and resistant to the elements and uses only half of the fossil fuel of any other plastic polymer.
Basically, rigid PVC sheet 'LEAVES TREES STANDING'!
Click here if you would like to see a short YouTube video clip entitled 'The Benefits of Vinyl' by Dr. Patrick Moore Ph.D. (no, he's not the astronomer!)
Finally, if you are still set on having a wooden dovecote we have some candid advice. We have looked at virtually all the dovecotes that are available and the best by a long shot are those from Forsham Cottage Arks. Unlike some companies who apply preservative and topcoat paint by brush or spray, Forsham fully dip their cotes into preservative and fully dip them in finish coat. This means that the treatments get into every nook and cranny which ultimately means that you will have a couple more years of good looks before it needs attention!
İFantail Dovecotes 2008