How to fix up wooden post

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KumamotoHunter
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How to fix up wooden post

Post by KumamotoHunter »

Photos below post ↓↓↓

I bought my twenty year-old house here in Kumamoto last April.
The previous owner really didn't do much in the way of home maintenance (do any Japanese people?!)
I am about to stain all the exterior wood with this:

http://www.asahipen.jp/product/detail.p ... code=20013

so as to protect it from water/insects/mildew etc. in the future.
I am using a water-based stain as I am not sure what was on the wood before. I discovered that oil-based stain cannot be applied over water-based, but the other way around is okay. Also, it seems water-based stains actually offer more protection from mildew.

Before staining, I intend to fill any larger cracks/fissures with this caulk for wood:

https://www.monotaro.com/p/3844/0701/

Today I found a small section of post (bottom right corner of post in photo) which has completely rotted out.
I don't think it is structurally significant (correct me if I am wrong) but I want to fill it before staining over it.
Is caulk okay for this kind of job? The missing section is about 3cm in length and about 1cm in depth; the post itself is about 11cmx11cm in depth and width.

Any advice would be appreciated.

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Zasso Nouka
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Re: How to fix up wooden post

Post by Zasso Nouka »

I've seen that stain/preservative in our local home centre and it looks pretty good, water based preservatives are pretty good these days.

I presume you are going to chisel out any rotten wood before filling, have you considered filling it with a plug of wood ? Largely depends on how good your chiselling skills are (mine are pretty bad so I've never attempted this) but so long as you can chisel out a hole with super straight sides it might be worth having a go. You leave the new plug slightly proud of the original post and sand it down to match before applying your stain. Might be worth having a go and if it doesn't work you can still use the caulk to repair anyway.

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Re: How to fix up wooden post

Post by gonbechan »

Chiseling out the rotten bits like Zasso says but if you cant fill with a wood plug, then a good wood putty in the hole and then stain should work too.
It would be less visible than caulking.

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Re: How to fix up wooden post

Post by KumamotoHunter »

Zasso Nouka wrote:I've seen that stain/preservative in our local home centre and it looks pretty good, water based preservatives are pretty good these days.

I presume you are going to chisel out any rotten wood before filling, have you considered filling it with a plug of wood ? Largely depends on how good your chiselling skills are (mine are pretty bad so I've never attempted this) but so long as you can chisel out a hole with super straight sides it might be worth having a go. You leave the new plug slightly proud of the original post and sand it down to match before applying your stain. Might be worth having a go and if it doesn't work you can still use the caulk to repair anyway.
Good idea, thank you. I might try that. Yes, I did a lot of research about water-based versus oil-based stains. It seems the latest developments/advances in wood stains have been with the water-based ones. I saw they have it at my local hardware stores too, but it it much cheaper to order it from Rakuten or Monotaro.

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Re: How to fix up wooden post

Post by KumamotoHunter »

gonbechan wrote:Chiseling out the rotten bits like Zasso says but if you cant fill with a wood plug, then a good wood putty in the hole and then stain should work too.
It would be less visible than caulking.
Okay, thank you. I will have a look on Rakuten for some decent wood putty.

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Re: How to fix up wooden post

Post by Zasso Nouka »

Water based preservatives are certainly a lot more pleasant to use and these days they last just as long. A friend of mine used Wood Long Eco on his log house and reckons he might not have to treat it again for 20 - 30 years which is incredible. I haven't used it myself as I'd like to know what is inside it and the maker doesn't say but it's upposed to be ecologically friendly.

As for the plug you can supposedly glue it in place with wood bond.

Your cat looks cute by the way :)

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KumamotoHunter
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Re: How to fix up wooden post

Post by KumamotoHunter »

Zasso Nouka wrote:Water based preservatives are certainly a lot more pleasant to use and these days they last just as long. A friend of mine used Wood Long Eco on his log house and reckons he might not have to treat it again for 20 - 30 years which is incredible. I haven't used it myself as I'd like to know what is inside it and the maker doesn't say but it's upposed to be ecologically friendly.

As for the plug you can supposedly glue it in place with wood bond.

Your cat looks cute by the way :)
Thanks, she has a great life up here, climbing trees and chasing rabbits!
I looked at Xyladecor (https://item.rakuten.co.jp/vivakenzai/xyladecory16/) but it is really expensive; over ¥30,000 for 16 liters. I didn't want to get cheap stuff either, so I opted for the Wood Guard stuff. I think I paid around ¥13,000 for 14 liters. Thank goodness for Rakuten! Reading the reviews, it seems to be a decent choice. I'm looking forward to getting on with the staining now. The wood needs a couple of good coats before rainy season.

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Re: How to fix up wooden post

Post by Wendy »

Kumamotohunter,
I'm curious to know how your staining project went....we're thinking about this on our house. Any tips? I played charade-staining in a couple of home centers, and just got confused looks, so maybe it isn't something that common. Or maybe my charade skills are even weaker than I imagine.

What would be the best time of year to do this? We're in Nagano prefecture.

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KumamotoHunter
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Re: How to fix up wooden post

Post by KumamotoHunter »

Wendy wrote:Kumamotohunter,
I'm curious to know how your staining project went....we're thinking about this on our house. Any tips? I played charade-staining in a couple of home centers, and just got confused looks, so maybe it isn't something that common. Or maybe my charade skills are even weaker than I imagine.

What would be the best time of year to do this? We're in Nagano prefecture.
I went with this stuff:

https://www.asahipen.jp/products/view/20013?genre=1

It is a water-based stain. First, I took off the previous stuff with my pressure washer. I let it dry for a week before applying the stain with a synthetic bristle brush. Don't use natural bristles with a water-based product, the brush will just go limp. I applied two coats to most of my beams and posts. In places which get the worst weather, and places where the wood was very worn/aged, I applied three or even four coats. I got the "walnut" shade. It looks kinda weird brown-grey in the can, but dries to a rich brown color.
I didn't bother staining under the roof eaves; the previous stuff was hard to remove with the pressure washer, so I decided it must still be in pretty decent condition. Besides, the under-eaves really don't get much punishment from the weather. I would recommend removing any old stain from very visible posts/beams....the finish will look more even.
I will try to add some photos of before/after at some stage.
I bought my stuff from Rakuten online. I think it was about 13,000yen for the 14L can.

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Re: How to fix up wooden post

Post by KumamotoHunter »

These photos show the side of the house which gets the most punishment from the weather (south-west facing).
I bought the ladder (over 10m) on Rakuten. Delivery was free.

After pressure-washing, pre-stain:
Image

Staining:
Image

Post-stain
Image

My growing wood pile for winter 2018/19. (Got loads of coppiced chestnut from my neighbor for free!):
Image

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