Chemicals that stop wood rot

by **John D** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 5:12 pm

What is the name of the stuff that you can paint on to marginally rotted wood to stop the process and cause it to become hard??

by **poplancaster** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 7:13 pm

John, It was "get rot" at one time. Minwax has what they call a wood hardener you can find along with their stains at any major store. "Get rot" is not on the market, at least where I can find it. I recently had to repair the subfloor in my bathroom. A loose tile let water get to the subfloor between the tub and the shower enclosure. I used the wood hardener first to stop further deterioration. I then fiberglassed with a layer of fiberglass cloth to bring the subfloor back up and strengthen the area. Prior to doing this, I removed a small section of sheetrock below the area and glued in a piece of plywood between the joist. When I filled in with fiberglass a little dripped thru. Luckily, I had left the area covered with painters plastic from the sheetrock removal stage. All worked well and you can't tell the floor was repaired. I also saved having to remove the tub or part of the tiled shower.
Joe

by **JFW0208** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 10:31 pm

Smith - something - makes CPES (Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer) that I used on some wood rot. Works pretty good but is volatile and smells for days/weeks if you need to do a lot. Not cheap, either, $195, I think in the 2 gal size. Abatron make a similar product. Do a Google search of Abatron or CPES. glycol/borate is also a rot preventer. It's just antifreeze and borax. You can find that on google, too. Can make it at home and it's like $6 a gallon. Won't make the wood hard but it's good for preventing rot from spreading. Just watch, most epoxy makers claim that their product wont adhere to antifreezes.

Jeff

by **majederr** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 4:18 am

Okay, I have read alot about the use of borates/Borax to stop wood from deteriorating and insect infestations, but have never heard of antifreeze. What exactly does that do? Joanne

by **mross** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 3:46 pm

Why not just use Bondo?
It's usually used for automotive repairs but is often suggested in place of exterior wood fillers.

by **JFW0208** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 10:20 pm

Joanne,

Antifreeze is what they call a broad sprectrum herbicide/fungicide. It kills mold, fungus, plants, etc. It will also kill animals. I spray it on all my crawlspace wood that is not pressure treated. I also use the borax even though I have only seen it specifically recommended for termites and I don't have termites. I'm hoping it will work on powder post beetles, too, which I do have. Antifreeze will eventually soak into the wood and dry but if moisture is present in the future, it will reactivate. With the MAJOR rot I found in my crawlspace (I have replaced the entire floor and 3/4 of the joists and all the beams) I am not taking chances. I sprayed everything with glycol/borate (antifreeze is ethylene glycol) and put down 2 layers of poly sheeting. The house stood for more than half of its 109 years with rot, I figure it's now ready for 200 more.

Jeff

by **majederr** » Fri Apr 02, 2004 1:06 am

Hi Jeff, So I just go buy the antifreeze at the automotive shop? I know they're are different types, do you use just good old plain stuff?Where do you get the borate? You combine these to spray on? If so, is there a formula for the amount of each you use? Joanne

by **JFW0208** » Fri Apr 02, 2004 10:51 pm

Joanne,

Yep, just the stuff from the auto store. There are the 2 types. One is "earth friendly" and not as toxic. I have only seen one article that said the "earth friendly" type would work, too. I prefer the toxic stuff because I had roots getting into the crawlspace, spiders, - well, a lot of stuff. Borate is available as borax (20 Mule Team) or as boric acid (Cockroach powder). If you got to http://www.google.com and do a search for "borate glycol"(without the " ") you will find a lot of sites with different recipes - that I can't think of off the top of my head. What I did was mix 1qt of antifreeze with 12oz hot water that had about 3/4 cup of 20 Mule Team Borax disolved in it. I boiled the water and added the borax while it was still hot. I put the mix into a spray bottle (like windex bottle) after it cooled and used that to spray. Just make sure the bottle is clean of other stuff (or buy an empty one) and make sure the borax is disolved or it will clog the sprayer.

Jeff

by **pedro** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 11:08 am

Are there any off the shelf borate based anti-rot products out there? Before I went ahead and made batches of the stuff, it might be nice to just purchase some to see if it would do what I would need.
Thanks!
:-)

by **JFW0208** » Wed Apr 07, 2004 6:09 pm

Pedro,

Yes, there are pre-made borate treatments - Boracare, Timbor (sp?) - but from what I hear, they are somewhat expensive. If you are just doing borate treatment for insects, you can get a box of laundry borax for under $5 and a bottle of, I think it's called Roachpruf (which I think is boric acid) for less than $10. I think the borate treatments run about $90 for what you could make with either of these. Again, check the web for recipes for borate/glycol treatments as I am not exactly sure of the ratios. I spent $150 or more for the CPES wood hardening epoxy for rot because I couldn't make that myself but I save money where I can.

Jeff