treating wood rot in a cabin

[walt]

The attached picture shows some wood rot in the ceiling structure of a cabin in Colorado at 8600 foot elevation. This place was built in the mid 60's and over time, the roof had a leak and you can see the results. The roof was completely replaced (now metal) about 3 years ago so no more leak. However, I still get a "musty" smell when the place has been closed up for a while and it warms up. FYI, the "white" you see is from when I sprayed the area with a diluted clorox solution and will probably wipe off.. The dark is the wood rot - and the problem.

No way am I going to replace the beam and ceiling wood.. so what is the best (or at least a sort of good) "bandaid" for this type of wood rot?

edit.. maybe something like this? http://www.rotdoctor.com/log/Lrepair.html

 

[Justin_NSA]

Several products out there that would work if you have the patience to do it right. Check out Abatron
I don't know how you can fix the area hidden by the beam without removing the boards. This would only be a cosmetic treatment.

 

[Eddie7045]

I pretty much agree with Justin. The tough part is

matching the natural finish. I would think though that you could remove the three damaged boards entirely and cleverly pop in new boards. Another idea possibility is to cut out only the damaged areas of the boards and slicing in fresh pieces held in place with clear epoxy. Trust me, your eyes will be the only ones that will even be able to detect where the damage was once repaired.

Another thing to keep in mind is that you should remove all the dry rotted part, for instance if the rot has spread on the upper, hidden side of a board all that should be cut or ground out. The beam can be repaired by grinding out the rot and refinishing. If it is not too deep in the beam you might grind out the rot just finish it as is or you can glue in or clear epoxy fresh matching pieces in and then dress it down grinding and or rasping it flush and then refinishing.

You will get some mildew smell in any building that has an interior temperature that drops below 50 degrees for extended periods of time

 

[walt]

I dread the thought of having to remove those boards.. tongue and groove and they are likely part of the roof mechanical structure. I guess the first thing is start removing the rot and see how deep it is.

If there is rot on the visible part of the wood, there is almost for sure rot above since the water leaked in from the old roof. Watching the video's on those web sites leads me to believe that I could at least seal the part I can’t see with penetrating epoxy by drilling holes and injecting the penetrating sealant. I like the idea of clear finishing wood (pine in this case) for the cosmetic finish after the rot has been removed- if this is possible.

Anyhow.. first thing is to dig out the rot to see how bad it is..

Thanks for the responses, very useful to me. This cabin definitely sees temps below 50 for extended periods of time. In the winter, the well is shut completely off, house plumbing all drained of water and it’s only heated when we are there (usually by burning wood). This winter had temps up there as low as -40F..

 

[Indysailor]

Rot Doctor may be the same as CPES, which is fairly popular among wooden boat enthusiasts for turning rotted wood into an epoxy infused hunk or to seal wood before varnishing. I've used it for that purpose on bulkheads that I built for my boat; I think it's basically epoxy thinned with acetone, based on the odor of the stuff. One difficulty with using a product like that is, being overhead, I am not sure how well it will soak in, as opposed to dripping off your brush, sponge, etc.

 

[walt]

Ill first check to see how deep the rot is (which I havent done yet). Assuming the rot is mostly on the surface, that spot hasnt changed in apearance in 8 years so Im thinking of getting CPES, drilling a bunch of holes that go all the way through to the top side of the long tounge and groove peices and then use something to inject the CPES to the top side, let it spill out on the top side - what ever that is. Ill have something to plug the hole after I inject the CPES. Ill just make sure that the dripping that will then happen just goes to a drop cloth.

Im thinking that I may try and get the top saturated with CPES (as much as possible) before I start on the bottom visible side as this is where it will be time consuming because of the cosmetics.

Thanks again for all the great info!

Does the view counter on this forum seem to be on steriods????

 

[woodster]

Ill first check to see how deep the rot is (which I havent done yet). Assuming the rot is mostly on the surface, that spot hasnt changed in apearance in 8 years so Im thinking of getting CPES, drilling a bunch of holes that go all the way through to the top side of the long tounge and groove peices and then use something to inject the CPES to the top side, let it spill out on the top side - what ever that is. Ill have something to plug the hole after I inject the CPES. Ill just make sure that the dripping that will then happen just goes to a drop cloth.

Im thinking that I may try and get the top saturated with CPES (as much as possible) before I start on the bottom visible side as this is where it will be time consuming because of the cosmetics.

Thanks again for all the great info!

Does the view counter on this forum seem to be on steriods????

get a veterinarians syringe with a # 14 needle and a short peace of flexible tubing ..join the syringe and the needle with that tube and you are good to go.....

regards

woody