I have a covered front porch with tongue and groove floor and several 10 foot high posts that appear to be made from four 2×6’s laminated together and turned. One of the posts had water building up around the base and the center two pieces of wood have rotted almost all the way through up to a height of about 4-5 inches. I got rid of the water by installing a gutter.
I am selling the house so need to repair it before I sell it. What would be the best way. If I just cut off the bottom foot of post and replaced it with new wood would it be possible to make it structurally strong enough and still look okay. Would epoxy be strong enough considering at least one half of the post is rotten? I don’t want to replace the post because I would have to replace all of them to make them match and the rest are in good shape. Thanks for any advice.. Brian
Replies
If the bottom 12" of the post is square and the rot only extends 4-5", you can patch the bottom by adding a piece is full size for six inches and laps halfway for another six inches. This could easily be done as long as the post is square. As soon as the turnings start, replacement becomes a whole lot harder and more expensive.
It's square for at least two feet so that should work. How would you recommend attaching the two pieces. Would yellow glue and nails be enough?
I've had success with a wood reconstituting system by "Woodepox". For areas that are curved or detailed, you can make rotted wood sound again by first soaking it with wood reconstituter. It involves drilling several downward sloping holes into the column and squirting in the solution. It will solidify even the most wet and hoplessly rotted wood from the inside. Next apply the two part filler. It is light and strong with a consistency between foam and putty. When it hardens in about an hour, shape with a rasp then sand and paint. I use it for historic restorations, even interior jobs since it is safe to handle and has a mild odor. The manufacturer says it's structurally as strong as wood, but I prefer to replace any wood I can if not too difficult. Consider using a polyeurethane based construction adhesive that comes in a tube like caulk or "Gorilla Glue" to make up wood joints. They cure with moisture and expand during drying. You will likely never fully dry out a column of that size, and yellow wood glue and most others don't stick to wet wood.
Gorilla glue and long screws. Spend plenty of time making the joints good. You will need a long, wide, and very sharp chisel to do this as any timberframer will tell you.
You can make your repair with wood replacement, then cover the repair and the rest of the posts with a build out at the bottom, a "basebd". Prime all new wood all sides, bevel the top of the basebd to shed water and caulk all joints. Hold the base up off the porch floor a qtr inch, neatly caulk that area.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
I second Cleve's recommendation. I recently repaired some porch columns using a wood epoxy system from Abatron. Minwax has a repair system as well -- and you can use it with Bondo.
Check out the FHB article:
http://www.taunton.com/finehomebuilding/pages/h00133.asp
Billy