Rot

[Byron Trantham]

I have a question about rot caused by water leaks into lumber. I am replacing the inside edge of my garage door opening and after removeing the facia boards I found out that the 2x4s behind it are rotten as well. Here is the question. Does rot continue even if it never sees water again? I am replacing the 2x4s but the question may be important if I can't remove rottred boards. Thanks

[Don Baer]

Byron;
If you cannot replace the boards then you will need to treat them in order to put some structual strength back. There are a few penetrating epoxies that will do the trick. In a past life when I owned a wooden sail boat I used something called "Get Rot" which actually used the left over dry rotted wood as a base filled in the voids. It's not cheap but it is a solution. If there a marine hardware store near you I would check there for a source.

Hope this helps.

[Maurice Ungaro]

Don's right, there are some "consolidator" product out there that will take care of that.

[Ray Bersch]

I Does rot continue even if it never sees water again?

Actually, Byron, the rot will stop once the water is gone. Of course, that does nothing to restore the integrity of the wood that has rotted. However, (aren't there always "howevers") the spores that cause the rot will reactivate with the re-introduction of water. And by water I mean even humidity because, after all, that is water too. So you see it is very difficult to "cure" rot with out replacement or treatment. If you need more information just drop me a line and I can get it for you very easily as I have been working on such stuff for my boat - I just don't have the info at my fingertips right now.
Ray

[Cecil Arnold]

You might want to apply a 10-30% solution of bleach to take care of any mold spores before you close the wall up.

[Byron Trantham]

Thanks everyone for your advice. As it turned out, I was able to replace the offending 2x4s with pressure treated boards. The outer trim boards are made from PVC. PVC is expensive but it should end my ever present problem of rot. I know that as I work my way around the house it will need to buy some epoxy product to retard the rot and strengthen the existing boards.

The job turned out great. All that is left is caulking and painting. :rolleyes: