On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 14:49:35 +0000, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

Ther is a difference brtween being rained on a bit and being permenently
damp Anna.
Oak rots over 20-30 year period if very exposed.
My extenla cills are showing signs afrtre a couple of years even WITH
varnish on.

You may well be right, I'm not an expert. I was pointing out that
varnish preservative etc might not be a good thing to use to protect
it which your 'rotting after 2 years' might confirm. Limewash works
well on the 500 year old Lavenham Guildhall

Internal tmber farmes stay dry and don't need anything really, but
again, if damp gets in, so does rot and death watch. You can examine the
pile of old oak timbers down my garden if you need convincing. We burnt
the worst ones.

Agreed that trapped damp is a killer. Was your old house rendered with
cement perchance? Is your window varnish trapping damp? One of the
main reasons oak was used for BOTH timber framing AND for building
ships is cos it can cope with being wet or dry without decaying. It is
the ?only? native timber which is so robust

I think its bad advice. Oak rots. Period. Unless its kept dry, and
exterior frames do not stay dry.

Ships are not dry

OKOK I'm not giving advice, I gave warnings not to do anything until
you know what is best to do cos it would be easy to do the wrong thing
and be stuck with it. I would then have wibbled quietly off into the
night except other people came up with advice which I know is
incorrect so I had to respond ... and then the NP is always up for a
good argument

On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 20:44:16 GMT, "Dorothy Bradbury"
wrote:

Oak is a combination of soft & hardwood as I recall

No you recall wrong. Oak is a hardwood

and it is the
softwood which can (more easily) rot - hence the "weathering".

That is the 'early wood' which is formed as the sap is rising. It is
still hardwood

Ask Sikkens re the best finish - and preparation
o Sikkens Cetol
---- lasts 7yrs + lots of "wood colours" + overcoatable
o Sikkens Rubbol (gloss) & Satura (silk)
---- lasts 6yrs + many more colours + overcoatable
---- use Onol vs Onol Express undercoat (former seems better)

So why would the OP go to the lengths (and expense) of buying oak
windows rather than the standard pressure impregnated pine. He already
has good "wood colours" which presumably he wants to make the most of

Enuf. Shut up Anna and go and do Xmas shopping
Anna
~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England
|""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs
/ ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc
|____| www.kettlenet.co.uk 01359 230642