Rot Reduction??

Re: Rot Reduction??

Barry Irby

I would stand them up and a shallow pan or tray with BoraCare until the stopped soaking it up. When I was building I did this with porch posts and pickets. After a few years it became obvious it worked.

You can also get Bor-rate rods.

Re: Rot Reduction??

Tom Norton

That seems like it is for insects. I don't think that is the problem. I am thinking moisture.

Re: Rot Reduction??

kneale brownson

Same idea with a wood preservative until it quits soaking in, allow to dry, paint with a poly paint.

Re: Rot Reduction??

John K Jordan

Since I started soaking exterior wood in boiled linseed oil it has lasted longer. I paint it on bar doors made from ERCedar, paint it on trailer boards garden tool handles.

JKJ

It works for mildew & mold too...

John in NM

Or fungus? I'm not up on the microbe taxonomy.

This is a well studied area, boric acid dissolved in boiling water and mixed 50+50 with glycol is the recipe I remember finding. Soak in as Barry describes. It works as well as the nastier PT chemicals, but the downside is that it is water soluble, so it's not permanent enough for commercial PT operations.

Probably won't last forever, but it will beat what you got with untreated wood.

Wood decay

Tom Dunlap

Decay microorganisms thrive in moist conditions. Dry or saturated will not support them.

Choose materials that don't rot...white, burr, live oak...cedar...black locust...redwood...etc.

Pressure treated

Paint

Design...many balusters are mounted with the bottoms flush on the horizontal frame. Maybe a thick plastic or stainless washer to break the connection??? Paint all surfaces before assembly.

Not all decay resistant wood is uniform. I read an article that compared decay resistance to the number of growth increments per inch. In general, more the better. I HATE saying that old growth is best. Gotta have old trees more than old lumber. Dense second growth seems a good compromise.

Re: Wood decay

Pete in Holland MI

Wood rots because it doesn't have a chance to dry. The wrong joint design on outside wood projects collects moisture and extends drying time.

Your choices are:

1) Better design to not hold water, especially if end grain is trapped and becomes a straw.

2) Rot proof materials (plastics).

3) Shielding from the water (roof).

4) Wood preservatives that will repel water, and upkeep of that coating.

Paints & hard sealers do a good job of shielding the wood from water, but wood is dynamic, and eventually, this "shell" will start to break down, and now water that gets inside, can't dry, and wood rots from within.

Me? My 25 year old deck, in the sun, and living thru winters in SW Michigan, is now 27 years old. Made from pressure treated wood. It gets pressure washed every spring, and a coat of oil based deck stain/preservative/water repellent with a tint of color every 3 years. Railing tops get sanded prior to staining. Still in great shape.

Re: Rot Reduction??

Paul Blackwell

Think what you can do with the Flex Seal family of products.

Drainage

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

A lot of porch balustrades are NOT built to be outside. If your balusters (spindles) are set in holes or grooves in the bottom railing, ensure that there's somewhere for the rainwater/snowmelt to go, rather than puddling. Drill holes in appropriate places, for instance (and prime the holes, so the end grain in the railing doesn't soak up water, thus leading to the railing rotting). That, and treatment of the bottom, will work together to add life.

I'm surprised that cedar is rotting that fast. Is there a lot of sapwood in the spindles?

Re: Wood decay

Barry Irby

The bottom rail on my Grandparents house had a Vee on top and the pickets/balusters were cut to sit on them. They were primed with lead paint and nailed with heavily galvanized nails. Heart pine. I know they have been there for over 60 years.

Tom's idea of a spacer is a good one, but it needs to be more than a washer. Technically it should be about 3/8" space. Water will find a way to bridge a gap smaller than that.

Last two rails I built used copper clad ground rod cut into 32" pieces for balusters. Treated wood for rails. It's holding up well.

Re: Rot Reduction??

Don Stephan

I wasn't clear how a V was incorporated, so the following may be redundant.

What types of design details should prolong or shorten the lifespan of porch railings? For example, are shouldered tenons, extending even a 1/4" in all directions from a mortise, better or worse? What about closed mortises? Round or square uprights (ballusters?)? Bottom rails that slope away from the uprights?

Re: Rot Reduction??

Tom Norton

The design is a rail which is 1.5"x 3.5 " of cedar with the 3.5" being oriented flat. The 1.5" square spindle is toenailed into this.