Dry Rot: Suggestions please

[Raffi]

I have a patio that is partially covered by 2x6 beams. I am refurbishing it. I scraped the paint, and removed any of the shorter 'fire blocks' (for lack of the proper term). I've replaced the rotted wood and primed everything.

Problem 1:

There are a few spots on the beams that have dry rot on them that I have scraped out as best I can. Can you guys recommend a good product for filling the areas I have cleaned out?

Problem 2:

The tops of the beams are exposed to the sun. Short of putting a metal cap on them, is there a product that I can apply to protect them from being damaged by exposure, or is routing maintenance my best bet?

Thanks.

Mr. I guess I need to work on some honey do's.

[bigstick509]

I've used the usual selection at HD and Lowes with some success but finally found the system from West Marine to be the answer. A little confusing as they have a wide variety of systems but if you have a store near you they are very helpful.

[capncarl]

Bigstick509 is correct with the West Epoxy. I've used a lot of it restoring my old houseboat. The liquid epoxy is thickened by added a powdered fiberglass fiber. It is good stuff and you will find all kinds of other projects to incorporate it into.

For the exposed tops of beams I like to use an aluminum foil type self adhesive roof flashing, I think it is googled as A-Seal2x50. It has about 1/8" inch thick gooey adhesive that sticks to about anything and lasts forever. It can be painted. This stuff works good on fence post tops to prevent rot as well.

[JimD]

Epoxy is better but I've had good luck with bondo - like you fix a car body with. It's a lot cheaper, of course. I've used it in outdoor applications with success but it was the underside of a porch roof where it didn't get standing water and on patching some vertical trim that, again, didn't get exposed to standing water.

[capncarl]

The West Marine site has several articles on using epoxy for residental and commercial building repairs as well as their marine repairs. They suggest that the first coat of epoxy be applied to wood without the thickners. It soaks into the wood really good and the thickened epoxy adheres to that. It really adheres well and is stronger than the wood. The real trick is getting the thickened epoxy shaped like you want it because it is about impossible to sand to shape by hand and even harder than that to shape with a router. Flat surfaces are easy to hand tool and sands well with a sanding disk on a grinder. When applying epoxy you should apply additional coats before the previous coat is completely cured and all of your work will cure as one piece. Unlike fiberglass that requires completely curing and sanding before applying additional material. Epoxy is so much easier to use than fiberglass because its open time is a lot longer.

[Raffi]

Excellent, thank you gents. I found this too:

http://www.ronhazelton.com/projects/how_to_repair_dry_rot_in_wood

I love Ron, he's the best.

[parnelli]

I've used this with good results.

http://www.systemthree.com/store/pc/Rot-Fix-c39.htm

Think I got it at Woodcraft

[Bill in Buena Park]

I don't remember why I originally bought the bag of FixAll, but I had some dry rot on some exterior wood around my windows, so using a rotary tool with a cutting bit removed the rot back to good wood and applied the patch. That was several years ago, and has held up fine. However, regular sanding and repainting keeps the wood sealed against these types of issues.