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Painting & Decorating

Stripping external wood, damp under old paint - how to treat

Anonymous user 15/03/2024 - 2.49 PM

Hi, I've just started to strip back the woodwork on the front of my house to repair and paint up. It's been one of those jobs I've been putting off for ages, as it's very old (130 years) and has been bodged so many times in the past that it's now a big job. Stripped most of the paint today to find the expected wood damage (repair care dry fix on order...) and the particularly nice sight of polyfilla in several aged and quite large cracks. nice. I've stripped out the polyfilla and will be sanding back, cutting out the really bad wood etc over next couple of days, but the bit I'm struggling with is that there's a timber post in the porch - when I stripped that, some of the timber at the bottom was black and damp to the touch. Clearly not good and needs sorting before I re-dec. What do I need to do with this - the timber is vaguely black, indicating some kind of fungus I think? it's not PARTICULARLY soft or friable, but obviously I want to get it dried off and treated to stop anything dodgy when re-coated. Will a dose of the dry Fix I intend to apply to the other timbers (notably sills) do the job, or does it need an anti fungal first? any help, really appreciated thanks EDIT: Many thanks to R&J Ayres and Tony Mangieri. Just to add a little more colour - have done some more stripping back today and discovered a new one - they've filled (an admittedly "dirty great") crack in one of the pillars - with mortar! I have now hacked that out, so plan of attack is: finish stripping the lot Sand down Allow to dry out Apply Cuprino 5 star timber treatment x2 Apply Dry fix x 2 Apply Dry flex sand back Then I'm not sure - I was GOING to apply Zinsser Bulls Eye 123, light rub down (&fill any further spots) then prime with Sikkens Rubbol primer before two top coats of Sikkens Rubol XD. Is the Bulls Eye not required, a bad choice because I'm intending putting sickens over the top, or absolutely fine? I've used the bullseye loads and really like it for stain blocking, which is what I'm thinking? thanks

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4 Answers

R&J AYRES

Rating: 4.9 out of 5

Emsworth

Let it dry out properly then apply a good amount of ronseal wood hardener then see how that go its jard giving advice without seeing it but worth a try

Answered24 June 2019

tony mangieri and sons painters and decorators

Rating: 5 out of 5

Peterborough

The first thing that needs to be done you have to make sure that the wood is completely dry once the wood is completely dry use a good quality trade stain block oil based on the discoloured areas. Once the area is dry apply a second coat of stain block. Then paint as normal if you need any more advice on the best paint to use feel free to ask . If you’re going to use a stain for the wood stain block comes in white so would not recommend difficult to say without looking at it They do sell stain blocks clear.

Answered24 June 2019

Charles Moore Painter and Decorator

Rating: 4.7 out of 5

Henlow

I concur with R&J AYRES. I’ve come across this problem on several occasions. Ronseal Wood Hardener has always done the trick. Important to allow the wood to dry out properly before application.

Answered24 June 2019

Anonymous user

If it were my job to do I would use my heater blower on it for serveral hours to dry it right out then leave it a day to see if the damp returns if it does then you have an underlying issue that would nee resolved, however if it remains dry then you could proceed to treat it with wood hardener, fill as required seal it then paint it, if you need any more help with this don’t hesitate to get in touch

Answered10 July 2019