Subject: help (sill beam rot)
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000Dear Wood Doctor,
I have 140 year old home with a 5 foot section of "sill beam" that in rotten out in the center. The The beam is around 8" in diameter and the outer 2" seems to be fine. There is no sagging or structural damage to the walls or plaster as of yet.
Is there any reason why I can't drill holes into the beam and then using a mortar bag or something similar, squeeze the epoxy/wood chip slurry into the beam until it is full?
Thanks in advance.
No reason at all why that won't work just fine. It will produce a structure stronger than the original.
Two suggestions: 1) Squirt or spray the interior first with our CPES (Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer), and apply the CPES to the exterior of the beam as well...where it is accessible. What this does is stop the rot/bacterial activity absolutely. The epoxy/wood chip mix then will bond with the CPES-treated wood. It'll be very strong. 2) Use our Layup & Laminating Epoxy. It is very slow-setting and has the time to settle into the cracks and crevices before hardening. It also retains a slight degree of flexibility that standard epoxy resins do not.
And come on back if you have additional questions.
Doc