Subject: Wood protection from Steel
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000

My company is currently constructing two replica historic trolley cars which are made with a steel underframe. We will be placing wood around all of the steel beams to conceal all of the frame and we are concerned about the reaction of the wood against the steel. We will be applying a zinc barrier coating to the steel to protect against the elements. We are using ash as a wood surround and want to avoid having the wood leach acids to create corrosion on the steel frame. Can your CPES product seal a wood product well enough to keep any wood acids from leaching past the sealer?

We are up against a strict deadline, so we would like to select the appropriate product as soon as possible. Could you please contact me and let me know if your product would be an applicable solution to our problem.
Thank you.

Kim G.

Kim,

Yes, our CPES (Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer) will prevent acids or anything else from leaching out of the wood and onto the steel. It will, in addition, prevent moisture condensation from the steel interior creating an environment that will allow the propagation of rot on the interior of the wood box frames. This interior box-frame rot potential is in my opinion a greater hazard than the acids leaching on the steel.

There is no other epoxy compound we know of which will penetrate wood as deeply as CPES. The Testing Section on our website demonstrates this.

Application is simple enough. We'd recommend at least 2 coatings of the CPES on the wood after it is cut and trimmed, but before it is installed. Three coats would not be inappropriate. Special attention should be paid to end-grain areas. We'd also suggest that after the fastener holes are pilot drilled, CPES be applied to these as well before the fasteners are installed.

Coverage of the CPES can be estimated at about 200 sq. ft per gallon on the first application, and approximately 300 sq. ft per gallon on second and third applications. Several hours should be allowed to pass between applications. If desired, paint can be applied directly over the CPES-treated wood 24 hours after the last application of the CPES.

We ship directly every day via UPS ground, and all orders are shipped on the same day we receive them if we receive the order by 2 pm Pacific Time. All major credit cards are accepted.

Let us know if we can be of further help.

Doc