Subject: Log Columns
Date: January 6, 2020
Good morning to all
Attached please find a series of pictures showing a house we purchased with decay/rotting at base of columns
I want to order and repair with your product and need some suggested means and methods.
As you can see I believe repair now while early is my best approach, correct me if you think differently.
Thank you
Ron S.
Ron,
Thanks for sending the images. These are very useful for us to evaluate your situation.
It appears that rain or ground water has soaked into the ends of the columns, and started the rot. Repairing the damage is the goal, but I also like to understand how the rot is happening, so I can make sure that it doesn’t happen again. To the same column, or others that may not be damaged.
The standard rot repair procedure is to dig out the loose, crumbly material, make sure what is left is dry, then soak the wood with the penetrating epoxy, S-1 Sealer. After this has several days or more to dry, any one or combination of the fillers can be used, depending on which is most appropriate to your situation. For what you are doing, I would probably use the Sculpwood Paste (not Putty), either as is, or thickened with some sawdust.
While the columns don’t appear to be significantly damaged, there could be rot further inside. I would probe for softness, and likely also do some test drilling with a long, thin drill bit to be sure.
To prevent damage to other columns, I would mold a temporary dam around the columns out of plumbers putty, and pour S-1 Sealer behind the dam. This would allow the S-1 Sealer to puddle around the bottom of the column, flow under, and soak up into the end where you can’t get at it. Doing this will make the end of the column very water resistant.
The above will certainly accomplish a structural repair. How it looks when you are done may or may not be desirable. You can’t really stain the epoxy fillers. You can tint them when they are mixed and applied. Or paint them afterwards. We would be happy to discuss things in more detail. A phone call would probably accomplish this best.
Doc
