Have you ever used wood hardener?

Hi there folks!

I have a rotten window sill in the bathroom....the one in the shower wher you put the shampoo and other wet products.

Well its got tiles up to it and weather board cladding so to remove it would be a right royal pain.:~

Saw this product.... Earls Wood Hardener at bunnies and thought I would give it a burl. It claims that it changes soft rotten wood into hard stable timber again.
Sounds too good to be true.... but I'll give anything a go.:rolleyes:

Has anyone used it?
Does it works?
I also bought some Porion to fill it with. Never used that before either. I have various types of epoxy and polyester fillers but I thought I would give it a go as the Earls Wood Hardener instructions says use it..... they would, wouldn't they... they're owned by the same company.:doh:

I'll let you know how I go.

Sorry Bleedin'
The post on the main page said "have you ever used wood" and I was just going to say "I think so, how can I be sure?":) (Oh! and welcome back)

Sorry, regards

Rob

Bleedin,
I've got this great product that's guaranteed to turn lead into gold :p . Send me a small fortune and I'll send you a vial of it.:wink:

It's not going to kill the fungus that's present in the timber (might slow it down)
It's not going to turn crap into good wood.
It's not going to be a permanent fix.

If it sounds too good to be true, it generally is.

I have used epoxy as a wood hardener on boats to increase its service life, but I reckon once it's gone bad you should cut it out and start again.

Mick

if ya scrape the rot out ,a good douse of bleach and fill with car panel filler ( epoxy ) and gloss it , it should look good for 3 years , after 3 years rip it all out and do it again , lol , once the rot sets in ,it will go deeper , if you don't replace the sill it will spread to the stiles and wall frame over time ,so spend the time and expense of fixing it , or just cover the problem and forget about it ,

fixing the problem isn't just a matter of replacing the sill , why is it rotten ? , a window in the shower is not the best position , even an aluminium window will corrode and look like crap after 5 years in a shower

wow, sounds like viagra for wood..!

if u can, rip it out and put in new wood, if not maybe cut the rot back as far as u can and even just builders bog will probably help. Like SDS said, how come it rots ?
u have leakage or condensation issues so it my best to think about the whole setup in terms of stopping yr rot..moisture extraction, redesign of window, extra sealage, fibreglass sill ? etc

have fun with that wood hardener..

Well folks I'd love to say you are all wrong ... but I can't the product turned out to be rubbish.:~

The finished product was no better than giving the spongy wood a coat of PVA.

So I'll just dig out as much rot as I can and bog it up and paint it, I actually did this 3 years ago.....fancy that.:D

I have some fungicides in the shed I might give it a douse before hand, I will also fix a strip of villa board over the timber and create a fall so water will run off instead of sitting there.

Yes I understand I will be doing this again in 3 years.... perhaps then I will be more inclined to rip it out and replace it.:roll:



Edit as a post script I returned the wood hardener and the porion that claims to dry in 2 hrs when after 7 hrs on a fairly hot day was still soft! and bunnies cheerfully refunded the money so I will have to just put it down to another lesson .............ahhhhh there are so many of them.

hey bleedin .being a fisherman all my life and working on wooden trawlers we come across rotten timbers all the time . apart from replacing them best way is is to scrape away all paint or varnish and make sure rotten piece is completely dry maybe use a fan heater then apply copious amounts of everdure or similar product . think wattly make one thats fine its a two pak type resiny stuf with the consistency of water that soaks right into the timber . make sure that you completely fill the wood and keep applying coats till its saturated. once it sets its like fibreglass wood . just looking at tin it says a two compononet polyamide cured ,epoxyclear coating its also good to use on new wood thats going to get wet in place of redlead

Thanks Mong, thats good to know. I have some Epirez epoxy that is very watery I'll give that a go next time.
I've already filled and villaboarded the sill in question up.

THere was a feature on tonights (Jan 16 2009) Summer edition #7 of Better Homes and Gardens on "Rotting Timber" and how to fix it. The presenter used Earls Wood Hardener and finished off with ProBuild Builder bog. He removed all the rot from the corner of a window frame and then drilled some holes into the good remaining timber so the hardener would get a purchase on good timber. By the look of it he gave the frame about 3 treatments (24 hrs apart) with Earls and then when finished filled the area with "ProBuild"

There should be a clip (1'38") on the Channel 7 Better Homes and Garden website.
Just had a look and for some reason the clip is not working tonight.

Link to the episode summary (Rotting Timber does not get a mention)
http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/b/bett...mmer-series-7/

Click on watch the episode and then click DIY Building and you should find rotting timber. Depending on what Earls costs (Probuild is $25) might be a low cost solution to rot for some

Good luck
John

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MelbMan

THere was a feature on tonights (Jan 16 2009) Summer edition #7 of Better Homes and Gardens on "Rotting Timber" and how to fix it. The presenter used Earls Wood Hardener and finished off with ProBuild Builder bog. He removed all the rot from the corner of a window frame and then drilled some holes into the good remaining timber so the hardener would get a purchase on good timber. By the look of it he gave the frame about 3 treatments (24 hrs apart) with Earls and then when finished filled the area with "ProBuild"

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Now, was that a product review, a product placement or an advertisement?

Cheers

Graeme

Either way I hope the rotting wood has been sorted out within the two years since the other posts:rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by corbs

Either way I hope the rotting wood has been sorted out within the two years since the other posts:rolleyes:

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Should be about due for another go at the window sill shouldn't we. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GraemeCook

Now, was that a product review, a product placement or an advertisement?
Cheers
Graeme

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Actually Graeme neither. I thought the purpose of this forum was to share info. Just happened to be watching BH&G last night when this topic was covered. I was actually looking around for the name of the wood hardener afterwards as missed noting it during the segment. Looking for the name is how I found my way to this thread. Although I am a member here.

Part of DIY is sorting out the best approach. I do have some rot to fix up country. Short of doing it surely a 1'38" video is a fairly reasonable way of seeing the approach.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MelbMan

Actually Graeme neither. I thought the purpose of this forum was to share info. Just happened to be watching BH&G last night when this topic was covered. I was actually looking around for the name of the wood hardener afterwards as missed noting it during the segment. Looking for the name is how I found my way to this thread. Although I am a member here.

Part of DIY is sorting out the best approach. I do have some rot to fix up country. Short of doing it surely a 1'38" video is a fairly reasonable way of seeing the approach.

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Actually MelbMan, I am pretty well in agreement with what you have posted.

However I do have a much more sanguine view of BH&G. Remember, the purpose of commercial television is commercials. There is no other reason for its existence, or for BH&G's existence.

Cheers

Graeme