Rotting Exterior Wooden Post

[JamesK]

Hi All,
I need some help and advise with an issue which has been going on for a while. My house has an exterior wooden post which partially supports a bay window at the front of my house. Upon buying the house a few years ago it was clear none of the exterior woodwork had not been maintained. The post isn't helped by the fact that water tends to sit on top of the brickwork at the base of the post.
Despite my father-in-laws best efforts of using wood filler, the fix never seems to hold and the whole lots falls out after a while. So I pulled all the wood filler out, and it now looks like the attached pictures. By doing this, it's actually stopped the rotting getting any worse.
I tried checkatrade.com to try and get quotations on what would be needed to fix it. I didn't get many replies. Some came to take a look and never came back to me. One person said that it would cost upwards of £700 to fix as he wanted to take the whole post out. Another had an idea of cutting out the rotten sections of post and putting in new pieces, but he never came back to me.
All of the houses in the estate have got posts like this, and sooner or later they'll all have the issue. For some reason, mine is by far the worst. I've attached a few pics of the post, and also a picture showing how the posts should look on my neighbours property.
I'm based in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, and would really appreciate some help/advice on what can be done here.
Many Thanks in advance.

 

[opps]

Epoxy resin filler should work but it is a PITA to sand back.

eg.

https://www.sealantsonline.co.uk/Products/Timbabuild-products-online

and

https://www.sealantsonline.co.uk/search.php?searchterm=repaircare


The timbabuild works out cheaper once you buy the proprietary application gun. Repaircare however have epoxy resins that will cure at much lower temperatures.

Chop out any loose material. Seal the timber as per instructions and then use the epoxy resin. The latter will not rot. You can use off cuts of perspex or at a push, bit of timber wrapped in bin bags to, form the finish. The epoxy will not stick to the plastic/ perspex.

Expect to fill, let it set and then fill, then let it set and fill, and so on. They are great products but very sticky and hard to mould (hence the suggestion of creating shuttering with the perspex (/bin bags)).

If you go with the timbabuild products you are looking at just over £60-80 for the gun, the wood hardener and a tube of filler. Then factor in your labour time, including the sanding and painting.

Looking at the image, I am concerned that the dwarf wall looks like it lacks a damp proof course. If that is the case the wall is allowing moisture to wick up the wall to the timber. If I am correct (which is not a given), you can drill and inject Dryzone rods to prevent water from the wall from travelling upwards to the timber.

The epoxy won't be affected by the moisture but the remaining core of the timber might be prone to continuing to expand.

Hopefully someone else will be able to advise further.

 

[foxhole]

You could clad the post with ply, makes repair much easier.

 

[Why Not Indeed]

Looking at the image, I am concerned that the dwarf wall looks like it lacks a damp proof course. If that is the case the wall is allowing moisture to wick up the wall to the timber.

If that's the case it may also be bridging the DPC in the wall it butts against.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Chop out any loose material. Seal the timber as per instructions and then use the epoxy resin. The latter will not rot.

I agree with the products you suggest, however I'd emphasisi that the punky wood needs to be chopped-out and then scraped out with a stiff steel wire brush to remove as much rotted material as is possible. The exposed timber should then be treated with a wood hardener such as Bonda Wood Hardener (there are alternatives, but that's the one I can source readily through builders merchants) before the filler is used (AFAIK it doesn't come in the filler kits). This is a moisture-activated polyurethane compound which will react to any residual water in the timber fibres and convert it into a form of plastic. It both stops any further rotting and strengthens the wood fibres. In the presence of a lot of water it will foam up which is why it is essential to remove all the punky/sodden timber before using this product. I've used this product in conjunction with the Timbabuild product on a number of listed building jobs in the past and it works well

 

[big-all]

post foot ??
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=stainless+steel+post+base&t=ffsb&iax=images&ia=images

 

[Deleted member 174758]

You'd still need to do the repair, though, B-A

 

[JamesK]

Looking at the image, I am concerned that the dwarf wall looks like it lacks a damp proof course. If that is the case the wall is allowing moisture to wick up the wall to the timber. If I am correct (which is not a given), you can drill and inject Dryzone rods to prevent water from the wall from travelling upwards to the timber.

Sorry for the delay in responding, and thanks very much for the detailed response. I checked the other side of the dwarf wall, and there is a damp proof course visible. The main issue with the post is when it rains, water sits on top of the wall, immersing the wood in water for periods of time.