Thread: freezing wood?

Or microwave?

Al

I don't think it will kill mould and fungi but might get rid of woodeaters

Cold will just slow down, organic nasties, however as soon as the temperature returns back to normal then they will all still be in the wood. Happy and Alive. Unless you go very cold.

Think of bugs, in your meat - even when you freeze meat the bugs are still their just in hibernation. Defrost the meat and they come alive and multiply. Cook the meat and you kill the bugs and parasites.

Chemical's and heat I suspect is the way to go.

A lot of the stuff that eats wood can survive freezing to some extent. Fungus (mold, mildew and all) spores will withstand very cold conditions, bacteria may produce spores as well. Some insects can survive temps down to 20 or 30 C below freezing. Heat on the other hand is lethal to most anything that isn't a spore at around 70 to 75 C.

ron

If I want to get rid of insects & grubs etc I soak the wood in turps overnight.

Or White king to kill mould , dunno if it'd change the colour of your wood

I lived for years in -40 C temps, and I'm as nasty an organism as you'd want to meet. As the others have mentioned, heat. Microwaves if you can find a big enough oven, gamma rays if you can find someone who radiate it for you. Gamma rays should kill spores, temperatures low enough not to wreck the wood probably won't.

For insects (borers) stick it in a plastic bag with one of those pest strips or any other volatile insecticide and put it out in the sun for a few days, or leave it near a warm radiator if you live in the miserable south!

Moulds are not really a concern if you get the moisture content down below 18% and keep it there, though the potential for them to reactivate if wet could remain for a long time. Getting the temp above 60 deg (C) for a few minutes is enough to kill most wood-chomping fungi and their spores (fungal spores aren't usually very tough - not like Anthrax!), though 75 is even more certain, as advised in the post above.

But really, if it's only fungi (rot) you are worried about, dryness is your best friend (and it's cheap!)

Cheers,