I have an arbour in the garden which came as a kit of tanalised
timber components.

After several years, the thin roof timbers look as if they would
benefit from more protection against decay.

I don't want to treat the whole structure, or to significantly
change its appearance.

Are there any products available these days which would be of any
use?

grumpy old man
Once upon a time I would have reached for a can of Solignum or
Cuprinol, but these days I guess it is all pastel coloured stuff
that would be safe to drink. /grumpy old man

Chris
--
Chris J Dixon Nottingham UK


Plant amazing Acers.

On Sat, 02 Apr 2016 08:28:40 +0100, Chris J Dixon wrote:

I have an arbour in the garden which came as a kit of tanalised
timber components.

After several years, the thin roof timbers look as if they would
benefit from more protection against decay.

I don't want to treat the whole structure, or to significantly
change its appearance.

Are there any products available these days which would be of any
use?

grumpy old man
Once upon a time I would have reached for a can of Solignum or
Cuprinol, but these days I guess it is all pastel coloured stuff
that would be safe to drink. /grumpy old man

Chris

For about 7 - 8 yeras I've been using a product from Wickes It states that
the VOC content is "very high", so it's probably OK.
I use it mostly on a shed made from plywood and apply it all over (on the
sed, not myself!) every 3 years.
I like the solvent-based, soak-in type, as there's no coating to degrade or
to be rubbed off before renewing. Having said that, for the first 6 months
or so, it is water-repellent.
When renewing a fence, one of the new posts went where an old, rotten post
had been, so I got the hole to the right size then liberally splashed the
preserver all around the hole.
Also, when the posts are in and the Postcrete set, it run some in around the
post. I hope it works.
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway

In article ,
PeterC writes:
For about 7 - 8 yeras I've been using a product from Wickes It states that
the VOC content is "very high", so it's probably OK.
I use it mostly on a shed made from plywood and apply it all over (on the
sed, not myself!) every 3 years.
I like the solvent-based, soak-in type, as there's no coating to degrade or
to be rubbed off before renewing. Having said that, for the first 6 months
or so, it is water-repellent.
When renewing a fence, one of the new posts went where an old, rotten post
had been, so I got the hole to the right size then liberally splashed the
preserver all around the hole.
Also, when the posts are in and the Postcrete set, it run some in around the
post. I hope it works.

A friend had a house timber that needed replacing due to wet-rot having
reduced it to something I sucked up with the vacuum cleaner. Nothing
could be done about the damp area at the time which was at one end of the
timber. So I let the replacement timber dry out for weeks, and then stood
in a shallow foil take-away container of cupronol wet/dry-rot protection
in the shed for a few weeks. This wicked up the timber and dried out on
the surface leaving crystals of the active ingredients behind.
It's never gone rotten since (30 years). The only irony is the light
coloured crystal bloom at one end of the timber looks like a nasty fungal
infection, but the timer is still absolutely rock solid if you try
pushing a bradawl into it.

However, I wouldn't do this with outdoor timber. The chemicals would
leach into the soil and might do nasty things to nearby plants, and
to humans who eat any vegetables grown nearby for years to come.

Also, posts outdoors don't rot in the wet ground, or in the air. They
rot only at the bounday where they have both moisture and air exposure.
Having watched workman last week replacing several snapped-off posts
of my neighbour's fence, the soaking wet stumps were just as solid as
the surviving tops of the posts - it was only a 2" length at the soil
boundary that rotted.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Andrew Gabriel wrote:

Also, posts outdoors don't rot in the wet ground, or in the air. They
rot only at the bounday where they have both moisture and air exposure.
Having watched workman last week replacing several snapped-off posts
of my neighbour's fence, the soaking wet stumps were just as solid as
the surviving tops of the posts - it was only a 2" length at the soil
boundary that rotted.

Absolutely correct. We have several hundred metres of electric fence
supported by hammered in round wooden posts. The fence has been in
place for 16 or 17 years now. The occasional post fails (one did in
the recent Katie storm) and they always break at the air/ground
boundary.

Of course the stress is probably greatest at that point too but the
left over bit of post in the ground is always pretty sound, I pull
them out by driving a long screw into them and lifting with the
hydraulic lift on our mini-tractor. The screws always drive in quite
well and hold without problems.

--
Chris Green
·

Also, posts outdoors don't rot in the wet ground, or in the air. They
rot only at the bounday where they have both moisture and air exposure.
Having watched workman last week replacing several snapped-off posts
of my neighbour's fence, the soaking wet stumps were just as solid as
the surviving tops of the posts - it was only a 2" length at the soil
boundary that rotted.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Same experience here. So what I've done for the last 20 years when putting new posts in, is to wrap a piece of roofing felt around the post so that 12" is below ground and 6" is above ground. Secure with clout nails. Seal the around the top edge of the felt with gutter sealant and Bob's your uncle! Never rots after that. Oh, almost forgot..... seal the end grain of the post with gutter sealant also, so that it doesnt soak up water that way.

Chris J Dixon wrote:
I have an arbour in the garden which came as a kit of tanalised
timber components.

After several years, the thin roof timbers look as if they would
benefit from more protection against decay.

I don't want to treat the whole structure, or to significantly
change its appearance.

Are there any products available these days which would be of any
use?

grumpy old man
Once upon a time I would have reached for a can of Solignum or
Cuprinol, but these days I guess it is all pastel coloured stuff
that would be safe to drink. /grumpy old man

Chris

You can still buy real "full lead" creosote - google for bird brand

On Sat, 02 Apr 2016 08:28:40 +0100, Chris J Dixon
wrote:


Once upon a time I would have reached for a can of Solignum or
Cuprinol, but these days I guess it is all pastel coloured stuff
that would be safe to drink. /grumpy old man

Funnily enough I thought your header would make a strapline for some
wierd tasting brew from a one man and a dog brewery.
Especially if it was beer from the wood.


G.Harman

On Sat, 02 Apr 2016 08:28:40 +0100, Chris J Dixon wrote:

grumpy old man
Once upon a time I would have reached for a can of Solignum or
Cuprinol, but these days I guess it is all pastel coloured stuff
that would be safe to drink. /grumpy old man

Have a look at the ingredients list of Cuprinol 5* Wood Presever.
ISTR hefty amounts of zinc componds(*). I don't think you'll be able
to get the proper "tanalising" stuff, as that is (should be) based on
CCA (chromated copper arsenate).

(*) Looks like they've buggered about with that as well. Pretty sure
the can I have is solvent (kerosene like) based with zinc compounds.
Current stuff is water based with propiconazole and cypermethrin.

The other three cuprinol wood preservers contain
3-iodo-2-propynyl-n-butyl carbamate and propiconazole. WTF are they?

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 04/04/2016 01:10, Dave Liquorice wrote:
(*) Looks like they've buggered about with that as well. Pretty sure
the can I have is solvent (kerosene like) based with zinc compounds.
Current stuff is water based with propiconazole and cypermethrin.


Yes, it certainly was solvent based. I well recall the fumes when
crawling around the loft in summer! And if I've found the right notes,
they have replaced flufenoxuron by cypermethrin (presumably 'cos the EU
banned the former).
--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid