Rot Proof exterior wood with penetrating epoxy
No more, "I got a flat!"
January 25, 2017The basic handtools needed for painting a house
August 21, 2017How to rot-proof exterior wood
Using penetrationg epoxy to seal exterior wood permanently
- Exterior wood doors and gates can be very expensive to replace
- Pre-treating your wood with penetrating epoxy, can make a door/gate or any exterior wood to last a lifetime
- This Smiths CPES Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer deeply penetrates the wood and then hardens in place so that water cannot get into the wood. Water in the presence of untreated wood always leads to fungal rot.There are other brands that can work well also such as West System, System Three and Advance Repair Technology
- You can use this same approach to french doors, garage doors, gates or any wood that is exposed to moisture
- Apply liberally so that epoxy soaks into the wood as much as it possible ….I call it coating till refusal. This means that the wood will be so impregnated that when the epoxy dries you have, in effect, a plasticized piece of wood that water cannot enter. If water cannot enter, you will never have rot
- After epoxy is dry, if the surface is to be painted, then caulk all gaps and seams along with the bottom of the doors/gate with a polyurethane caulk, such as, Permathane or Vulkem. These polyurethanes caulks are extremely adhesive, elastic and will last for many years
- A gate like this looks really sharp with a copper cap along the top edge; this adds additional rot proffing as the copper will keep any moisture for entwering all the seams between the wood components
