Repairing Rotted Wood

[Raymond Fries]

I paid a contractor to come to my house and replace the window sills and and soft wood on the sides. Well, he did not do everything he said he would. There are some soft spots I am hoping to repair. I have been looking at products to brush on that is supposed to change the structure and stop the rot. Also, some epoxy products to fill areas. Can anyone recommend a good product for this? There are many choices out there and I want to get a good one that works.Thanks

[Steven Hart]

I've had good luck with Minwax Wood Hardener.

[Neal Draper]

You might want to look at the West Systems Epoxy product
line.

Neal

[phil harold]

Abatron
Git Rot
Rot Fix
CPES...

[Lloyd McKinlay]

Abatron Liquid Wood. Expensive but it goes a long way and it really works. It's used a lot by the government for historical buildings. I tested it on some really difficult repairs; not a hint of problems when I sold the house 10 years later.

[Joe Adams]

In the past, I've always used Abatron products. Their rotted wood liquid hardener is great but the two-part epoxy putty is difficult to tool smoothly.

I recently tried the System Three system (RotFix and SculpWood) and was very impressed with the workability of the epoxy putty. Plus it's available at Rockler and Woodcraft stores so it's easier to purchase locally.

[Floyd Mah]

There's a Bondo product called Bondo All Purpose Putty (http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3579724) that you can get at Ace Hardware. It sets very hard and is probably identical in durability as the expensive products sold specifically for wood replacement. It's easy to work and can be shaped with sanding or filing. If you think about it, why would you need to use something as strong as an armored vehicle to substitute for something that was originally wood. It's cheap. $14.99 for a quart sized container. I think the equivalent product (http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/abatronwoodepoxquart.aspx) that I found at the specialty hardware stores cost about three times as much. Besides, almost no one, except our wives maybe, hasn't heard the name Bondo for decades.

[raul segura]

Ditto !
Been thinking this one out to. So ill listen in to. Dig out as much of it as you possibly can. A small insignificant area can just be the tip of the ice burg as i found out. You may want to treat the area with some resistance like boric acid sold for many things [roach away 99%] it dehydrates them. For soap soften skin etc. Or you could go pool cleaner sodium hypocloryte, cleans well water to.(things you may have around the house).radiator fluid but i would not use.

I whet the cavity with clorit then used saw dust, (treated wood) mixed with gorilla glue so it would swell and get any thing i could not reach. A little goes a long way and you'll want to tape any gaps over so it will not flow like insolation. If it were exposed to the sun i would not use this. You could fill in with this mix then go back and use the proper stuff as a shell and save $. Any how fungus lives a happy life in georgia so most important to clean out well or you'll be messing with it a couple of yrs from now.
GOOD LUCK.

[phil harold]

There's a Bondo product called Bondo All Purpose Putty (http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3579724) that you can get at Ace Hardware. It sets very hard and is probably identical in durability as the expensive products sold specifically for wood replacement. It's easy to work and can be shaped with sanding or filing. If you think about it, why would you need to use something as strong as an armored vehicle to substitute for something that was originally wood. It's cheap. $14.99 for a quart sized container. I think the equivalent product (http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/abatronwoodepoxquart.aspx) that I found at the specialty hardware stores cost about three times as much. Besides, almost no one, except our wives maybe, hasn't heard the name Bondo for decades. Bondo is one way to go after you stabilize the wood
You need to harden the wood fibers and stop them from decay/rot then fill the voids

[Jacob Reverb]

First you need to kill any existing dry-rot spores, or else the rot will continue as long as it can get moisture.
Dry rot is caused by fungus, and these spores are what spread and perpetuate it. They send out tentacles almost like cancer through wood.
Borates like "Tim-Bor" and "20 Mule Team Borax" and boric acid roach killer work well for killing these spores. So does anti-freeze (ethylene glycol) although it's also very toxic.
Then you can use an epoxy / Git-Rot / Bondo / plastic wood or whatever kludge floats your boat.

[Peter Quinn]

If the rot goes deep in a window sill you need to remove the window to do it right. Im sure you don't want to hear or do that, you should also let the wet wood dry out before consolidating. Often removal is the only way to let a sill or window frame dry out. Maybe you can ask mother nature to stop raining for a while?I've had good luck with CPES for consolidating rot and abatron for filler. I've had no luck repairing sillsmin place that were spongy.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Can anyone recommend a good product for this?
I use a 10 amp DeWalt reciprocating saw.....
And/or one of those little plunge cut multifunction tools.

IMHO - & if I were lord high emperor of the universe, I'd make selling wood hardener a capitol crime...

I make it a rule to never repair rottted wood. I always replace it.
It's simply not worth it in the long run to do anything else.

[Jim Galvin]

I use this http://www.advancedrepair.com/architectural_epoxy/architectural_epoxy.htm its a little pricey but it does the work, easy to apply. Bondo will eventually fail. Abraton is good but this product is better.

[Raymond Fries]

Thanks for all of the feedback!

Here are some excerpts from the letter I sent to the contractor that points to the problems. I have decided that I do not want him to come repair anything as he did not do what we agreed to. I have never done wood repair before. Not sure if I have the time to chisel out the wood and custom fit patches. I live in Indiana and it is starting to get cold. Do you guys think the stuff that penetrates would fix the soft spots on the sides? I thought about drilling a series of holes so it can soak into the entire area. There are only a couple of small spots where the wood crumbles. Most of them are just soft to the touch. The epoxy would fill the holes and the small spots.

Thanks for any help or direction.

[Peter Quinn]

Yup, the pictures tell at least 1000 words. Thats the place its going to rot. Water gets past the jamb-sill intersection, caulk may have helped if caught early enough, then the end grain of the jamb legs starts sucking up water like a sponge, the soft possibly finger joint pine goes down easy once it starts. My guess? The wood below and behind what you can see is wet and now soft, and there is no easy way to repair or consolidate this wood in place, if at all. If I were your contractor, I would have said "Sorry Raymond, but you are going to need at least a whole new jamb set, which probably costs close to a whole new window. Anything else is a bandaid on a heart attack, and I won't take your money for that". It may be possible to make a jamb set cheaper depending on the details and the contractors skill with millwork, but some of the factory made stuff has weather strip channels and transitions that can be difficult or at least time consuming to duplicate . The windows generally match the jambs quite closely, it may be cheaper if possible to buy a new frame from the OEM?

I feel that wood repair has it's place. Very minor spot repairs. Very old expensive millwork made from old growth lumber worth saving. Historic parts of older homes. I fixed a set of 24" diameter circle gable vent sash with 24 lites for just over $200 for a client. They were delicate and beautiful, well worth saving IMO, I would have charged him close to $800 to remake them from inferior wood. But those casements you have there? I smell a dumpster in their future.

[Rick Gooden]

PC Woody is used on a lot of historical buildings.

[raul segura]

A multi-tool and dermal like would work very well for this repair. Still before using hardener Id clean out the cavity, it may look small on out side but as said just under the paint....also you have much better chance at killing all rather than keep drift wood in place.
Why not clean out kill & fill cheaply (foam insulation/foam glue), and due it right in the spring. To much $ to replace entire window, I due think you can get away with a filling for quite some time if you cant re-due/splice parts or not the time. Someone mentioned calking check all house for this as it is much cheaper than the given result.
NOTE, If you use pool cleaner with (sodium clorite) Ace H.W. etc. You can dilute with water and let sit for 10-12 min.(out side!) Then add as much vinegar or citric acid. Brush on then soak a rag in this mix and stuff in cavity,let soak. The mix will create a gas that will help penetrate.

[Prashun Patel]

Just know that wood hardeners and void fillers and glues won't fix any structural weaknesses caused by rot; the fix will only be cosmetic. If that's fine, then using something like this is fine so you can make it look nice. You should also try to solve the seal or moisture problem that caused it though, else you are probably headed for a repeat.

[Brent Ring]

CPES is great stuff!