Subject: Dry Rot In Cabin
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998

Delighted to have discovered your products on the internet. I have a 1964 Trojan 31 ft wooden cruiser in excellent condition. It has a dry rotted out corner in the forward port corner of the cabin. About 5 sq. inches of area can be poked out by hand. Should I cut out and replace this wood, or is one of your products stong enough to offer structural strength for this repair?

There are a couple of other areas where the rot is not that advanced so I will probably be ordering your injection kit. Where do you mail from (so I can estimate delivery time).

Thanks,

Rick C.

Rick:

As for the cabin corner, it all kind of depends on structure and finish. Deteriorated wood often looks kind of ugly if bright finished, and getting the good looks back is difficult. As for strength, our Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer (CPES) injected at the top and allowed to flow down through the rotted area, followed by some of the Layup & Laminating Resin, will restore structural strength back to original or better. You should also paint it on the bare rotted surface with a brush. If the bad wood isn't literally falling out on the cabin sole, I'd leave it there as a base matrix for the epoxy to form around. Final holes and gaps can be filled in with epoxy putty if required. The wood must be reasonably dry and paint/finish removed from deteriorated area. Kind of your call to restore or replace, depending on what you want it to look like in the end. If the surface is painted, I'd sure go with the epoxy. Lots easier.

We mail from Seattle, so we're 2 or 3 days from anywhere on West Coast, 4 or 5 days from Midwest, and 7 to 9 days from East Coast.

Be happy to answer any additional questions.

Doc