Fixing Decayed (Rotted) Wood Using an Epoxy Penetrant and
Filler
When you come across rotted wood in your old house projects,
instead of replacing the damaged wood, you also can repair it
with specialty epoxy penetrants (also called consolidants) and
fillers to make repairs. Not only is this faster, but the fixed
wood is stronger than the original. For example, if you are fixing
an old window and you strip the wood, paint on an epoxy penetrant.
This will not only strengthen the wood, but also give it complete
protection from moisture for decades once it is primed and painted.
Below are two examples of how we used an epoxy penetrant
and filler to fix damaged wood.
 About
epoxy
consolidants (penetrants) and fillers.
These products restore
rotted, severely damaged windows, columns, frames, broken furniture,
structural and decorative wood components. They are especially
valuable for parts that cannot be replaced because of size, shape
or other reasons. The objects restored with these products become
fully functional parts often stronger and far more durable than
the original.
The penetrants. Reinforces, rebuilds, water- and insect-proofs
wood by hardening after penetrating. Regenerates rotted windowsills, frames,
structural and decorative parts, furniture, boats, columns, floors.
Epoxy fillers are a structural adhesive putty and
wood replacement compound. They are a high-strength no-shrink adhesive paste
to fill, repair and replace wood and other materials in structures, walls,
floors, furniture, sculptures. They are unaffected by water and insects.
We
use Abatron's
wood restoring products.
It is better to use a product specially formulated for wood
even if it is more expensive.
Product information
below
Repairing
decayed siding 
|
Click to enlarge |
After we removed the paint from our siding,
we came across some boards that had decayed. One end was
soft enough to push a pencil through. Instead of removing
the 16' siding, we decided to rebuild the bad end using an
epoxy consolidant to harden the soft wood.
We drilled a series of holes one inch apart and half way
though the wood. We then mixed the epoxy and painted it over
the bad parts of the wood. We also used a syringe to inject
the consolidant into the holes. |
Decayed siding
|
| Here you can see the hardened wood. A piece of aluminum
flashing has been pasted behind the board. |
Siding hardened with epoxy consolidant
|
| After the consolidant hardened, we used epoxy filler to
reshape the missing parts of the siding. We didn't worry
about creating an exact straight edge as the siding is old.
We put
wax paper behind each area to be filled so that the epoxy
filler wouldn't bond to the board behind it. |
Epoxy filler used to fill in holes
|
| The final painted siding is now fixed. It maintains is
weathered look and will last as long as the other siding. |
The finished siding
|
| Fixing
a corner post on stone
|
Click to enlarge |
| We came across a wooden post that rested
on a stone wall. It had decayed because water would sit
on the stone and flow under the siding. The photo shows
this post corner section resting on a flagstone wall. We
cut out the bottom wood under the corner post and replaced
it with a new piece of wood. We then painted the bad and
good wood with an epoxy penetrant. |
Decayed post
|
| Once the post was fixed, we had the problem of keeping
water from getting back under the siding. If we simply
caulked along the siding and stone, over time this seal
would break and water would seep in. Instead, we purchased
lead flashing from a roofing store and used it to act as
a seal behind the siding and over the stone. Lead sheeting
is both attractive and easy to work with. It also can be
soldered using your plumbing soldering iron. |
Siding replaced and lead flashing
inserted behind the siding and wrapped over the stone
|
Product information:
Abatron's
LiquidWood and WoodEpox More information »
Advanced
Repair Technology Inc. More
information »
Rot
Doctor's
Penetrating Epoxy and FILL-IT™ Epoxy Filler More
information »
Additional information:
Restoring
wood with epoxy. An article
from Fine Homebuilding magazine
Wood
rot repair
Visitors:
lead sheeting, lead flashing
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