Dry Rot

[DarrylF]

Did a deal with a mate - he's going to do some work on a car for me, and I'm going to do what I can to fix the 1st floor balcony on his house, which has a bad case of dry rot. All the problems seem to be contained to a small area to one end of it and the stairs at that end.

The house is your standard 2 story detatched house, probably 30 years old. The railings are clearly stuffed - big chunks missing etc. They're easy enough of course. The timber looks like meranti or something. Probably half a dozen treads on the outside staircase are also rotten.

The big problem though is a post between the 1st floor beam and the ceiling beam. Probably 6" square, it seemed to have a small amount of dry rot where the handrail joins to it. Took a closer look and tapping on the post is basically like tapping on a cardboard box - the only thing holding it together is the mission brown paint :)

The beams are probably 12" x 2", and mostly look solid, though it looks like there might be some problems on the end of a couple of the floor beams. Can't really see until I rip up some of the decking timber.

The big question is how to replace the post. Right now I'm figuring on using maybe 2 x 2"x3" pieces of framing pine, coach bolting one each side of the post, pulling the post out, replacing it, then removing the pine. Sound like a plan?

Second big one is what timber to use? It will be painted.

I'm aware that fixing this properly and completely is probably no small job, especially if the floor beams do have dry rot. The priority is to make it safer - between the post, the handrail and the stair treads, you wouldn't want to wander out there on a dark night with a skinfull :)

Any pointers or suggestions are very welcome.

[Taffy]

Darryl,
Is this dry rot, are you sure? if the papery feeling on the wood starts at the floor boards or hand rail and runs right up the post I would be checking for Termite damage.
An Acrow prop would be the go for the supports that way you can adjust the height to fit the new Hardwood pillar without busting a gut.

There must be a lot wrong with the car, run out sales are on now you may save yourself a lot of pain.

Taffy

[DarrylF]

Taffy,

The first visible sign of it was basically right in the middle of the handrail, which is basically a 4x2, flat side up - the rail had cupped slightly. It just crumbled away when someone grabbed it one day. When you pull at the open section, the timber just crumbles. There are no harder sections within the rotten areas, no holes in it either, just all soft, crumbly & spongy. There are no little piles of sawdust etc like I'd expect to see with termite damage.

Also figured since this had started on the 1st floor and there's no visible problems at ground floor level, and this is the corner of the house exposed to the southerly's coming off the lake, dry rot was the cause.

Happy to be told I'm wrong though - I'm certainly no expert when it comes to this stuff :)

I'll organise an acrow prop - better than drilling extra holes to bolt on timber.

The car is a kinda sentimental project - 1987 Honda Prelude. I've had it for years, and it's a lotta fun to drive. About 3 years ago I bought a more sensible Accord, and the mate and I started fixing the Prelude - bit of rust, hail damage & peeling clearcoat. Part way through he & I both started new jobs and neither of us have had time for it since. So for 2.5 years it's sat in pieces in his garage :) He wants the space back and I need a second car now SWMBO has finally decided to get her license.

[Taffy]

Darryl,
Sounds as if you were right the first time, no suggestion that you may have been wrong just an observation from the description in your post that reminded me of troubles past.
You will need the extra vehicle if SWMBO passes a test and gets a licence to kill. you would not have any wheels for a while until the novelty wore off.
Best of luck with both your projects.

By the way I think Bunnies hires props, unless you know someone like me who happens to have a couple under the house.

Merry christmas
Taffy

[DarrylF]

>> Shameless bump <<

Gotta start this next week. Any suggestions on the best timber to use? Anything I should be looking for/avoiding in this?

[Taffy]

Daryl
I have been giving some thought to this problem, why not cosider a square steel post (galvanised) for the main structure and then box it in timber say 20mm thick to give you the similar size, prime the inside of the timber planks before fixing to avoid sweating from the steel post creating moisture in the timber. then if this happens again the outside plank/s will only have to be replaced.
For the hand rail replace with a rounded profile so that water cannot lay on the top, this may stop the cupping affect.
It would probably be easier to fix a steel post than a timber one.
If you must replace the post with a timber one then be sure to prime the cut ends before fitting.

best of luck
Taffy

[DarrylF]

Thanks Taffy, but I'm not sure how well that would work. The current timber post is one of 4 or so exposed, so obviously the replacement needs to look the same. The post is rebated as in the pic below (side on view on the left, looking at the post from the balcony on the right). It has a bolt top & bottom. So I'm thinking timber - either treated pine or hardwood, I guess hardwood? I'll pick up some timber preservative rather than primer perhaps?

Got a similar problem with the handrails too - only planning on replacing about half of it, but I may be able to plane a slight bevel each edge. Doesn't take much to allow water to run off I guess. I think half the battle is just replacing it with timber that's not going to cup.

Hey, I guess at the end of the day if it's safe again that's most of the battle won.