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Repairing wood rot

Here Gary Simmonds, Technical Account Manager at Repaircare International Ltd looks at the causes of wood rot and the repair solutions.

Before we explain how to repair wood rot, it is first necessary to explain exactly what wood rot is and how it is caused.

What exactly is wood rot?
Wood rot is an attack on timber, caused by fungal spores. It usually occurs in wooden frames or other facade carpentry that is exposed to various external influences.

What are the causes? Wood has many different influences. There are weather influences such as temperature differences, rain and wind, but also mechanical damage (damage that you do to the wood yourself) and pollution. All this causes damage to the paint system, which leads to the activation of fungal spores more quickly. Ultimately, it is these fungal spores that attack the wood and therefore cause rot. The fungal spores become active by the following three factors:

  • Temperature between 5 and 40ºC
  • Oxygen
  • Moisture content of the wood higher than 21%.

The advantages of wood rot repair
In the vast majority of cases, around 95% of the time, it is possible to it is possible to carry out repairs or partial replacement. With the right products and correct application of it, wood rot repairs will last for the lifetime of the substrate.

Not only is repairing far cheaper than replacing, the durability of your window or other timber will increase significantly. The cost savings are therefore not just at the point of application. The resin enables maintenance cycles to be extended, reducing whole life costs. There are also the sustainability benefits of removing the wood rot and repairing the current frame rather than replacing entire window frames – often all windows frames are replaced to ensure property continuity.

How do you repair wood rot?
Here are the 7 steps we recommend using the Repaircare Dry Flex system.

  • Step 1: Remove paint at least 10 millimetre from around the damaged area.
  • Step 2: Remove all decayed damaged wood using a high-speed router with a round cutter, leaving a straight shoulder with a minimum depth of 5 millimetre. You must ensure all of the wood rot is removed.
  • Step 3: Check moisture content this must be 18% or below, then apply Dry Flex by brushing liberally onto the bare wood allowing this to penetrate the wood for a minimum of 20 minutes.
  • Step 4: Using the Easy Q double dosing gun, dispense the 2 component Dry Flex on to a plastic mixing plate, mix thoroughly until a homogeneous colour is reached. Apply a thin coat onto the primed wood.
  • Step 5: Complete the repair by adding more Dry Flex and shaping using metal repair knives leaving a smooth finish.
  • Step 6: When the resin has completely cured, lightly sand leaving a smooth finish and a key for the decorative coating. Any minor defects can be rectified using Dry Flex SF (fine surface filler).
  • Step 7: Finish in accordance with the approved paint specification.

Repairing wood rot

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