A neighbor has wood steps that are very dark and look almost new.
He said they are not pressure treated and are more than a decade old.

They've been in the ground this whole time and haven't aged a bit.

He pours his old motor oil on them whenever he changes his oil.
I could see where he did in that some wide steps were stained darker.

Does motor oil prevent bacteria and mold and insects from eating the wood?

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|O|O|O| PGP: 05CA 9A50 3F2E 1335 4DC5 4AEE 8E11 DDF3 1279 A281

On 5/4/2021 5:25 PM, Dan Purgert wrote:
A neighbor has wood steps that are very dark and look almost new.
He said they are not pressure treated and are more than a decade old.

They've been in the ground this whole time and haven't aged a bit.

He pours his old motor oil on them whenever he changes his oil.
I could see where he did in that some wide steps were stained darker.

Does motor oil prevent bacteria and mold and insects from eating the wood?


I know of people doing similar things and the wood lasted for years. Of
course, depending on how much he is pouring and where it goes, he may be
contaminating the ground water.

It will soak into the wood. Farmers have used it for fencing.

On Tue, 4 May 2021 21:25:41 -0000 (UTC), Dan Purgert
wrote:

A neighbor has wood steps that are very dark and look almost new.
He said they are not pressure treated and are more than a decade old.

They've been in the ground this whole time and haven't aged a bit.

He pours his old motor oil on them whenever he changes his oil.
I could see where he did in that some wide steps were stained darker.

Does motor oil prevent bacteria and mold and insects from eating the wood?

Troll, troll, troll your boat...

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On 5/4/2021 2:25 PM, Dan Purgert wrote:
A neighbor has wood steps that are very dark and look almost new.
He said they are not pressure treated and are more than a decade old.

They've been in the ground this whole time and haven't aged a bit.

He pours his old motor oil on them whenever he changes his oil.
I could see where he did in that some wide steps were stained darker.

Does motor oil prevent bacteria and mold and insects from eating the wood?

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I use Chevron Shingle oil every few years to coat the inside of my cedar
gutters. It is a thin non-drying oil that soaks into the wood, but lets
the wood breath, so moisture can get out of it. For wood gutters, any
coating that dries is likely to result in rot.

https://shop.sclubricants.com/chevron-shingle-oil

I would worry about slipping falls using oil for surfaces you walk on,
but have thought about that possibility.

On 5/4/21 5:25 PM, Dan Purgert wrote:
A neighbor has wood steps that are very dark and look almost new.
He said they are not pressure treated and are more than a decade old.

They've been in the ground this whole time and haven't aged a bit.

He pours his old motor oil on them whenever he changes his oil.
I could see where he did in that some wide steps were stained darker.

Does motor oil prevent bacteria and mold and insects from eating the wood?



Spray it on my flatbed trailer every year (spruce tubasix bed), no signs of rust or rot.

On Tuesday, May 4, 2021 at 5:25:49 PM UTC-4, Dan Purgert wrote:
A neighbor has wood steps that are very dark and look almost new.
He said they are not pressure treated and are more than a decade old.

They've been in the ground this whole time and haven't aged a bit.

Why are wood steps in the ground? I guess if they are not part of
a structure, maybe steps down a landscape grade, I can see it.



He pours his old motor oil on them whenever he changes his oil.
I could see where he did in that some wide steps were stained darker.

Does motor oil prevent bacteria and mold and insects from eating the wood?

Probably, but it must make a hell of a mess that you have to walk over.
Which gets back to the question of where these actually are.



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--
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|_|_|O| Github: https://github.com/dpurgert
|O|O|O| PGP: 05CA 9A50 3F2E 1335 4DC5 4AEE 8E11 DDF3 1279 A281

On Wed, 5 May 2021 06:43:03 -0400, Daryl wrote:

On 5/4/21 5:25 PM, Dan Purgert wrote:
A neighbor has wood steps that are very dark and look almost new.
He said they are not pressure treated and are more than a decade old.

They've been in the ground this whole time and haven't aged a bit.

He pours his old motor oil on them whenever he changes his oil.
I could see where he did in that some wide steps were stained darker.

Does motor oil prevent bacteria and mold and insects from eating the wood?



Spray it on my flatbed trailer every year (spruce tubasix bed), no signs of rust or rot.
We used to sprey the old driving shed with engine oil mixed with
something else - can't remember if it was diesel or linseed or what,
but it kept the wood from rotting or being eaten by bugs (or
porcupines)

I imagine it would have flared and smoked pretty good if it had
caught fire!!

On Wed, 05 May 2021 22:31:52 -0400, Clare Snyder posted for all of us to
digest...


On Wed, 5 May 2021 06:43:03 -0400, Daryl wrote:

On 5/4/21 5:25 PM, Dan Purgert wrote:
A neighbor has wood steps that are very dark and look almost new.
He said they are not pressure treated and are more than a decade old.

They've been in the ground this whole time and haven't aged a bit.

He pours his old motor oil on them whenever he changes his oil.
I could see where he did in that some wide steps were stained darker.

Does motor oil prevent bacteria and mold and insects from eating the wood?



Spray it on my flatbed trailer every year (spruce tubasix bed), no signs of rust or rot.
We used to sprey the old driving shed with engine oil mixed with
something else - can't remember if it was diesel or linseed or what,
but it kept the wood from rotting or being eaten by bugs (or
porcupines)

I imagine it would have flared and smoked pretty good if it had
caught fire!!

Probably linseed oil, that was the good ol wood protectant. It spontaneously
combusts if left in piled rags. If the shed caught fire it would have been a
grand sight.

--
Tekkie

In article ,
says...

Probably linseed oil, that was the good ol wood protectant. It spontaneously
combusts if left in piled rags. If the shed caught fire it would have been a
grand sight.




I live in a small town and about 55 years go there was a fire that wiped
out a city block. The buildings were old and many had wood floors and
about 3 stories tall. Those floors probably had many layers of some
kind of oil on them. The buildings were brick on the outside.

On 5/7/2021 6:16 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
In article ,
says...

Probably linseed oil, that was the good ol wood protectant. It spontaneously
combusts if left in piled rags. If the shed caught fire it would have been a
grand sight.




I live in a small town and about 55 years go there was a fire that wiped
out a city block. The buildings were old and many had wood floors and
about 3 stories tall. Those floors probably had many layers of some
kind of oil on them. The buildings were brick on the outside.


In New England at least once a year one of the old mills would go up
like that as the wood floors were oil soaked. Most every town has a mill
building of some size.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_Worsted_Mill

On 05/07/2021 02:55 PM, Tekkie� wrote:
Probably linseed oil, that was the good ol wood protectant. It spontaneously
combusts if left in piled rags. If the shed caught fire it would have been a
grand sight.

I use boiled linseed on my garden tool and ax handles and I'm careful
with any rags I use. I haven't done any fine woodworking in a long time
but linseed and turpentine was always my favorite finish. It develops a
nice patina. Last I looked you might have to take out a loan to buy real
turpentine.

On 05/07/2021 05:06 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 5/7/2021 6:16 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
In article ,
says...

Probably linseed oil, that was the good ol wood protectant. It
spontaneously
combusts if left in piled rags. If the shed caught fire it would have
been a
grand sight.




I live in a small town and about 55 years go there was a fire that wiped
out a city block. The buildings were old and many had wood floors and
about 3 stories tall. Those floors probably had many layers of some
kind of oil on them. The buildings were brick on the outside.


In New England at least once a year one of the old mills would go up
like that as the wood floors were oil soaked. Most every town has a mill
building of some size.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_Worsted_Mill


https://www.dover.nh.gov/government/...mill-fire.html

https://www.fosters.com/news/2019010...-investigation

It didn't destroy the building but one of other mills in Dover had a
fire when I lived there. I really like those old mills; they have history.

https://www.nps.gov/lowe/planyourvisit/guidedtours.htm

The tours are very interesting. When you get your fill of mills you can
go searching for Jack Kerouac sites.

On 5/7/2021 9:19 PM, rbowman wrote:
On 05/07/2021 02:55 PM, Tekkie� wrote:
Probably linseed oil, that was the good ol wood protectant. It
spontaneously
combusts if left in piled rags. If the shed caught fire it would have
been a
grand sight.

I use boiled linseed on my garden tool and ax handles and I'm careful
with any rags I use. I haven't done any fine woodworking in a long time
but linseed and turpentine was always my favorite finish. It develops a
nice patina. Last I looked you might have to take out a loan to buy real
turpentine.


I've not bought turps for years but a quick check is $22 to $45 a
gallon. Amazon has a glass bottle of 8 oz. for $20

On Fri, 7 May 2021 19:30:44 -0600, lowbrowwoman, the endlessly driveling,
troll-feeding, senile idiot, blabbered again:


https://www.dover.nh.gov/government/...mill-fire.html

https://www.fosters.com/news/2019010...-investigation

It didn't destroy the building but one of other mills in Dover had a
fire

OK! What off topic bull**** is this now about?

On Fri, 7 May 2021 19:19:09 -0600, lowbrowwoman, the endlessly driveling,
troll-feeding, senile idiot, blabbered again:


I use boiled linseed on my garden tool and ax handles and I'm careful
with any rags I use. I haven't done any fine woodworking in a long time
but linseed and turpentine was always my favorite finish. It develops a
nice patina. Last I looked you might have to take out a loan to buy real
turpentine.

Wanna bet that your linseed and turpentine, too, thought that you were a
driveling bull**** artist? BG

On Fri, 7 May 2021 18:16:24 -0400, Ralph Mowery posted for all of us to
digest...


In article ,
says...

Probably linseed oil, that was the good ol wood protectant. It spontaneously
combusts if left in piled rags. If the shed caught fire it would have been a
grand sight.




I live in a small town and about 55 years go there was a fire that wiped
out a city block. The buildings were old and many had wood floors and
about 3 stories tall. Those floors probably had many layers of some
kind of oil on them. The buildings were brick on the outside.

That's probably because they didn't have a proper firewall between units. The
house I grew up in didn't have one. It was a brick twin with the wall
separating the units only coming up to the eaves. The space under the roof
trusses was open, one could climb into the neighbors if industrious enough.
IIRC I don't recall what was used as a separation in the attic. My father had
put plywood down to use as a floor & storage for stuff... Knob & tube wiring.

--
Tekkie

On Fri, 7 May 2021 21:52:36 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 5/7/2021 9:19 PM, rbowman wrote:
On 05/07/2021 02:55 PM, Tekkie? wrote:
Probably linseed oil, that was the good ol wood protectant. It
spontaneously
combusts if left in piled rags. If the shed caught fire it would have
been a
grand sight.

I use boiled linseed on my garden tool and ax handles and I'm careful
with any rags I use. I haven't done any fine woodworking in a long time
but linseed and turpentine was always my favorite finish. It develops a
nice patina. Last I looked you might have to take out a loan to buy real
turpentine.


I've not bought turps for years but a quick check is $22 to $45 a
gallon. Amazon has a glass bottle of 8 oz. for $20

All solvents are out of sight. There isn't any more $1.49 a gallon
paint thinner.