Wood Repair

[Antwerpman]

I am in the process of restoring the window frames on my belgian `patriciers huis` which are about 100 years old in oak. in one or two places I have some rot which needs to be dealt with. I have read in the internet about products which can be painted on to the rotten wood to stabalise and `harden` it before filling the rotten areas with a 2 pack filler.

As my Dutch is not so hot I am having some difficulty locating exactly what I should be using so am looking for some pointers from anyone who has used this type of thing before.

Firstly what is the product used to stabalise the rotten wood and are there any brand names people use and recommend? Secondly I can find two different types of 2 pack filler here-both from polyfiller but one with a rapid cure (1-2 hours) and the other with a slower cure (approx. 6 hours). What is the difference between these and which is best? Or is polyfiller product not good and am I better sourcing something else?

Obtaining products mail order in the UK is no problem as my family are still there and I can easily have it sent to them and collect it on my next visit.

Thanks in advance

Graeme

 

[Ian Bond]

I do the following, and it's worked very well on softwood windows:

1. cut out worst of very soft decayed wood
2. brush a wood preservative on and let dry
3. brush a wood hardener on until it won't take anymore
4. use a 2 part filler to repair the hole.
5. paint it.

For large areas of rot I patch in a new piece of wood - much cheaper than several tubs of filler. It seems to work quite well.

In the Netherlands alas, but they must have something similar in Belgium:
http://www.alabastine.nl/producten/Houtrotvuller.htm

I bet your Flemish (*) is better than my Dutch, most of which I have now forgotten. Do the locals get a bit touchy when you refer to their language as Dutch?

(*) linguistically there's not a great deal of difference, but I certainly noticed the difference in pronunciation. Just wondering from a political/social point of view if they refer to their language as 'De Vlaamse Taal'. Whenever I try and speak Dutch, the natives reply in English - probably think it's bizarre for a foreign tourist to try and learn their language.

 

[Penners]

Hi Antwerpman

I can find two different types of 2 pack filler here-both from polyfiller but one with a rapid cure (1-2 hours) and the other with a slower cure (approx. 6 hours).

Neither of these is the type of filler that I find best for this kind of job. The best type IMHO is a resin filler - like car body filler. You mix a large piece of the paste with a small amount of a white hardener cream and you then have about 5 - 10 minutes to use the stuff before it cures chemically. Once it's hard you can paint it, saw it, sand it, etc.

If you can't find this is in woodworking stores, you could use car body filler (do you have a product called Isopon in car accessory shops?). I think it's the same stuff apart from the colour.

There are many brands of wood hardener - for example, both Ronseal and Cuprinol make one. Here's another example http://www.decoratingdirect.co.uk/viewprod/b/BONWH/

 

[biffvernon]

There's some useful information of this firm's websiteWindow Care Systems Anlgia.

 

[Antwerpman]

Thanks for the replies everyone, I will see what I can find here before ordering through the UK. The polyfiller stuff comes as a 2 pack system with paste and hardener, but I wasnt sure if this was good or bad stuff. What I couldnt find here is the wood hardener.

The worst of the rot will be cut out and replaced, but luckily this is mainly confined to small strips at the edge of the windows which were seperate pieces anyway. Only the sill is to be replaced in its entirety, but someone had done that before and used a softwood painted with modern paints. This invariably cracked and let the water in, the softwood then sitting permanently wet against the oak caused a small amount of rot in the oak. Luckily I have found a joiner who will make up the new pieces for me in (French) oak. Unfortunately it is kiln dried but that is the best I could find and it has sat around in his workshop for +1 year so it should be fairly stable (I hope).

I bet your Flemish (*) is better than my Dutch, most of which I have now forgotten. Do the locals get a bit touchy when you refer to their language as Dutch?

(*) linguistically there's not a great deal of difference, but I certainly noticed the difference in pronunciation. Just wondering from a political/social point of view if they refer to their language as 'De Vlaamse Taal'. Whenever I try and speak Dutch, the natives reply in English - probably think it's bizarre for a foreign tourist to try and learn their language.

Actually I have never heard anyone except the English refer to the language as `Flemish`, here they say that they speak Netherlands. There is actually a common or `correct` form of Netherlands which is maintained in agreement between the two countries - a bit like queens english I suppose, but very few people other than news readers speak it. In reality the difference in the spoken language is probably not too different from the regional variations in the UK, with a marked difference in pronunciation but using the same underlying language.

Their excellent english is a bonus in many ways but a curse if you are trying to learn Netherlands, as everyone simply replies in English, oh well I can order a beer so that is all that`s important!

 

[Ian Bond]

Hi

Thanks Antwerpman - a bit of a diversion from the wood rot topic, but most interesting.

I actually managed to get hold of some of the windowcare stuff myself. The system appears to me to be a franchise - only franchised businesses can get hold of the 'magic' repair materials. This is strictly not available to outsiders (i.e. DIY) as you would expect - they have to protect their USP.

I only got hold of it by asking the boss of the window company nicely - and used it to repair a split in sash rail.

I did some research (not got it to hand) and found the stuff on the internet, and I think it was a Dutch company. If I can find it again I'll post the link.

To be honest, I reckon the 2 part stuff that Penners mentioned is just as good. For cars and wood!

I'd have thought the KD oak would be OK for the cill - I've used that myself to patch repairs in rotten door frames, and hope to use it for a cill this year.

The trouble I have is when trying to plane OK by hand. Either me, the plane (or both) are not up to the job. I think I'll have to get the timber merchant to shape the cill for me.