wood rot

joanwillison · Post by **joanwillison** » Wed May 11, 2011 2:34 pm

We have two small areas on our wooden Trojan transom that are punky as well as some seams cracking. We plan on having proper restoration for these problems but not for a year or two. I noticed a mention on another forum to PL400 instead of epoxy. Is it okay to use PL400 for these temporary repairs? We don't have a lot of experience on this.

risctaker · Post by **risctaker** » Wed May 11, 2011 2:39 pm

I have been successful at cleaning out all the punky wood and making sure it is very dry (use a hair dryer if necessary) then brushing on Minwax wood penetrating solution which penetrates the wood fibers and hardens them up thus preventing further deterioration. After that stuff sets up, you have your choice of filler compounds. I typically use fiberglass resin filler right out of the can. Sets up after adding the catalyst in about 10 minutes then sand and prime and paint as you see fit. Whatever you do, do not allow the rotted areas to sit like that until you are ready for the larger job. The rot will spread to a much larger area ...and quickly, especially in the hot humid summer environment. I have used PL400 successfully as a construction adhesive, but not just as a filler material.

joanwillison · Post by **joanwillison** » Wed May 11, 2011 3:31 pm

Thanks! that was very helpful.

Joan

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Wed May 11, 2011 5:53 pm

IMO Your better off using something like get rot or the penetrating epoxy from west marine it will help make the area stronger

PL400 ? from a quick search it looks like nothing you want to use .

gumper · Post by **gumper** » Wed May 11, 2011 7:30 pm

I would call wooden boat repair shops in your area and see what they recommend. I boat yard where I store my boat specializes in wooden boat repairs. They use allot of a product called cpes made by smith co . It is a clear penetrating epoxy sealer. They also use west system epoxy on top of that. I would stay away from polyester base fillers. (not recommended on wood boats ). I would never use pl400 as a filler. Some good advice from a pro might save you some grief and money and most places won't charge for tips or advice.

Big D · Post by **Big D** » Wed May 11, 2011 8:11 pm

Read this thread http://www.trojanboats.net/wforum/viewtopic.php?t=4761, there is some helpful info. Buy the brochure from West System, very informative, visit http://www.epoxyworks.com/. IMO, don't use poly resins, use epoxy. How big are the soft spots and how thick is the material where it's bad, is it ply or plank, soft all the way through or just half way?

jddens · Post by **jddens** » Wed May 11, 2011 9:28 pm

Here's a link to "wood boat restoration"...........you can down load it for free...........great information here (thanks Big D).......John

http://209.20.76.247/ss/assets/howto-pu ... Repair.pdf

Big D · Post by **Big D** » Wed May 11, 2011 9:33 pm

Hey thanks John. I have the hard copy but the pdf is great to have too.

joanwillison · Post by **joanwillison** » Thu May 12, 2011 8:47 am

Thank you all for the info. Another question which may have been answered in the info provided but I haven't read it all yet - our hull in places has exposed wood in places. We plan on applying anti-fouling but should something else be applied before the anti-fouling?

risctaker · Post by **risctaker** » Thu May 12, 2011 1:16 pm

BTW: If you have to fill any deep or large rotted wood areas after treatment with a wood preservative, I recommend using wood screws to anchor the filler material. I never count on the epoxy filler being able to permanently bond to old rotted / treated wood, so I screw in several old SS or brass screws half way into the hole then apply the filler on top of that. the filler uses the exposed top portion of the screw to grab thus no relying on the wood surface itself.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Thu May 12, 2011 1:17 pm

As long as the wood is ok just use the bottom paint

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Thu May 12, 2011 1:19 pm

BTW NO filler on the bottom ( Top side is still so so but won't sink the boat.)

joanwillison · Post by **joanwillison** » Thu May 12, 2011 1:20 pm

Thanks again. That all helps immensely.

joanwillison · Post by **joanwillison** » Thu May 12, 2011 1:34 pm

No filler on the bottom - got it - thanks!

joanwillison · Post by **joanwillison** » Thu May 12, 2011 2:26 pm

Just found another post where the guy put "with 4 coats of barrier epoxy paint and 2 anti-foul coats". Should we be putting barrier expoxy paint on first before the anti-fouling?