dirt dibbler wrote:

"Pecanfan" wrote in message
...

Once dried out should i be applying something to preserve the

timber/reduce

the risk of any rot/kill off any possible fungus, or am i being

paranoid?

I'm no expert but have had a similar situation recently myself (a major

beam

had been subject to many months, possibly years of water penetration

through

a hole in the roof). The beam was significantly softer as a result of the
water saturation (not so soft as to be useless but soft enough to be cause
of concern).

Anyway, the roof's fixed now and after about 4-5 weeks the beam dried out
naturally and you'd never know there'd been a problem - it seems just as
solid as all the other beams.

Based on this, and advice given by professional joiners, providing it's

now

dry and there's plenty airflow around the timber in question I'd just

leave

it to dry out naturally. I'd be wary about applying any form of
preservative at this stage in case it actually inhibited the drying

process?

As I say, no expert though...

Andy



thanks, i'm going to let it dry out, i just wondered if fungicide would be
beneficial. I'll keep an eye on it for any rogue growths.

Let it dry and if ou acre enough, spary on some wood treament gunk.
Smells teriible, but a hand sparyer (like the things that cleaing gunk
comes in) is good fr getting into corners.

It will help prevent problems later, but it sounds like you got there in
time on this one.

To rot, wood needs to be permanently damp. If it dries out
periodicially, the fungus all dies off, and thats that.



DD