John,
You're a writer, right? Just kidding. I want to clarify, that my choice of mahogany is specifically the 5/4 x6" decking that is sold most places in New England. I mill it to size for whatever use. I first remember using it about twelve years ago, no rot at corner boards, sill repairs, window trim and decking. I agree that the rot resistance is a factor of both install and specie, but for the aformentioned uses the decking material is great.
Thanks for the links. When are you in New Haven or close by?
Best,
Leland
Leland Torrence Enterprises and The Guild
Conservation - Restoration - Management
17 Vernon Court, Woodbridge, CT 06525
Office 203-397-8505 Fax 203-389-7516
Mobile 203-981-4004
e-mail [log in to unmask]
www.LelandTorrenceEnterprises.com
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-----Original Message-----
From: The listserv where the buildings do the talking [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Leeke
Sent: Friday, October 28, 2011 10:06 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [BP] 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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