John, I love how you turned my (in)experience into a really good lesson. I should know better, of course, too, but still I didn't recognize any warning signals lurking in the bushes. This was a front-and-center situation, and not really off-the-shelf. I didn't write the full story...



First, we had a really great barn guy helping with the guts of the columns and porch framing, and I believe he did just what you describe, searching his sawmill and lumber sources for the best wood for reconstructing the concealed framing. He prepped the wood with Termin8 where it came in contact with masonry in the ground and where the new decking would touch it.



Next we ordered custom milled, straight-grain fir in 5/4 thickness for the new T&G deck. This took months to arrive from California, but it was beautiful, except for where it was damaged in shipment. The local lumberyard let us sort through the stock to select only those boards that were not damaged, as we had to use each piece full length. The decking was installed with continuous boards under each column, except for the 8 x 8s poking through.



Two of the bases were original and had only to be shored up until the deck was installed. Wood lath was used to "ventilate" the cavity on the deck under each column. Two of the bases were fabricated new by a local woodworker in his shop on the west side of town. He had to build a special super-large lathe to turn the bases, once they were built up from new wood. We used the pine he suggested and never really discussed options, or whether he could have turned the bases in the much harder mahogany, let along ipe. His shop conditions and experience gave me confidence that he was helping us make the best choice. They looked good when they were installed. 



It's now been six years, and the first sign of trouble has appeared as a small area of rotted wood where the two halves were butted together to fit around the 8 x 8 columns, and held in place with cinched straps until the glue set. No sealer was applied at the butt joints, and I'm not sure what kind of glue or epoxy was used, but we use the Gougeon Brothers' West System for most repairs, and likely for the epoxy, as it is local and works great. In six years' time, the butt seam has slightly opened and rainwater getting into the joint has been the source of trouble. Contributing to the problem is rainwater overflowing the gutter or blowing onto the base and finding any weak spot, crack, or split to penetrate the assembly. This corner has historically been a source of water infiltration due to the weather exposure, and I didn't do anything to counter this inherent flaw in designing the repairs. 



We all try to make good decisions, find credible sources of information, and depend on the expertise and experience of highly skilled trades. When there is a weakness, water has a way of infiltrating the best of intentions and expertise.



Since I can't upload photos, I hope this narrative is clear enough to evoke a visual impression.







Quinn Evans Architects

Ilene R. Tyler 

d 734 926 0407 



------------------------------



Date:    Fri, 28 Oct 2011 10:06:23 -0400

From:    John Leeke <[log in to unmask]>

Subject: Maghonanany



Ilene wonders, "If someone could now tell me why I used conventional, 

off-the-shelf white pine six years ago to my replace rotted column bases 

that were originally old-growth Michigan white pine, I'd like to know. 

Bad decision...I knew better, but I went with what seemed logical and 

convenient at the time.<<



I have been trying to figure this out too, and simply specifying or 

selecting mahogany is not the answer. In this past year I have seen two 

cases where mahogany column plinths have rotted out, one they were 

installed in the 1970s, and the other in the late 1990s. So, like with 

most other exterior wood, long service life depends on the knowledge of 

the woodworker to select the good piece of wood, and not on the simple 

specification of a species.



Unfortunately, as we now know, you used an "off-the-shelf" product that 

was not actually a piece of wood. It was labeled wood, it looked like 

wood, a judge and jury would think it was wood, but it was not actually 

wood. It WAS a wood-like product, designed for just one purpose: to sell 

and get your money. The corporation that made and sold that product does 

not give one whit about your columns or your fine old house. During the 

last ten or twenty years the corporations have changed the definition of 

the word wood, so that the definition does not included anything about 

the durability or suitability of their wood-like products for any 

specific purpose, or in fact, any purpose at all. How do they get us to 

buy their wood-like product? You state the answer to this in your story: 

it is by making it "convenient."



This past few months I have been trying to figure out the "convenience" 

thing. Convenience seems to be a big part of the wool that the 

corporations pull over our eyes to hoodwink us into buying their 

disposable products, whether it is a kleenex, a replacement window or a 

wood-like product.



So, how do you get a piece of real wood? For starters don't try to buy 

it "off-the-shelf" and don't expect to do it conveniently. You will have 

to go out of the way, and around the barn three times to get it. I get 

my real wood by visiting the people I know at the sawmill, and at the 

specialty hardwood dealer. Occasionally I can find a piece of real wood 

at my local lumber yard, but I may have to go there three times and go 

through two stacks of lumber to get it--not convenient, but highly 

effective. How do I know real wood when I see it? It has 15 to 20 or 

more growth rings per inch, it has more heartwood than sapwood, it has 

vertical-grain, or at least rift-grain along the edges of the plank, it 

has more heft (weighs more) that the other boards in the pile. Even 

then, the board or plank is not perfect. As I layout my parts and cut 

them out of the board I eliminate imperfections that would reduce the 

performance of my parts, such as knots, flat-grain, pitch pockets, 

splits and sapwood. In this way I improve the quality the wood every 

time I handle and cut it.



Here is a link to my article, Mr. Baseman, on fabricating column bases 

in the 9/1996 issue of Old-House Journal:

http://tinyurl.com/3qwxk68



Check out pages 2-8 of my publication Exterior Woodwork Details for more 

on wood selection. Also, my Wooden Columns and Wood-Epoxy Repairs 

publications could be useful.

http://www.historichomeworks.com/hhw/reports/reports.htm



John

by hammer and hand







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