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Stokerace
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# Posted: 12 Apr 2025 07:09am
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I'm looking for suggestions about how to optimize the durability of framing lumber by way of preservatives or any tricks.
Here's the situation: I'm in the process of framing and sheathing a 650' sq cabin. All the boards were milled for me. The beams, decking and Siding- hemlock. The framing spruce and the floorboards pine. (At this stage it's a time waster to analyze my choices of lumber species.)
I am using tar paper over deck joists, and some rim joists and beam ends (which are on screw piles 30" off the rock pad)
I intend to brush in a generous amount of wood preservative on joists at the deck and porch, which are both roofed areas of the build.
Later when the pine floor is down, I want to treat it with something. And same for the hemlock siding.
Luckily the pine is kiln dried but the rest is quite recently milled.
Interested to know what have been your best successes with creating durability in your floors, walls etc, in terms of resisting decay and other impacts.
This is on the Atlantic coast right at the Maine - New Brunswick border area if that helps.
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Brettny
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# Posted: 12 Apr 2025 07:19am
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The best thing you can do to protect wood from rotting is to keep it dry with a roof that had big overhangs. Second best thing is an oil based stain. Why oil based? Because it's got next to no prep for another coat and soaks into the wood pores. Oil based stain is a stain that needs "mineral spirits or paint thinner" listed on the clean up process.
TWP makes good oil based stains. Since your siding is kiln dried I would stain is as soon as its installed. Green lumber may need a few months to dry a bit but rough cut lumber really sucks up stain.
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Stokerace
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# Posted: 12 Apr 2025 07:27am
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This is great thank you. I'll refer to this tip when I get to the hardware store later today.
Yes I'm building approx 24" overhang at all walls plus covered porch and deck. Trying to get tar paper laid on in all the logical places too.
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DRP
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# Posted: 12 Apr 2025 08:27am
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Borate... Timbor or BoraCare are water borne preservatives. borates move by diffusion, the best time to apply is green, right off the sawmill. The salts move on the wet from high concentration, the spray, to low, the water in the wood... so it goes in deeper when the wood is still wet all the way through. BoraCare does include glycol to rewet dry wood to aid penetration in dry wood, it is not needed in green. Solubor is the chemically identical ag chemical that sells at real farm supplies as a boron supplement for things like tomatoes and peppers. It is a good bit cheaper, 1 lb /gal of water.
Then let the wood dry and seal it in with the water repellant preservative as above.
A porch is covered, a deck is not. With untreated a deck is pointless, grandpa built porches only for good reason.
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gcrank1
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# Posted: 12 Apr 2025 08:57am
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Fwiw, I have some 'drain oil' soaked blocking that is +/- 40yrs old that has been outside constantly in all weathers and is just fine.
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 12 Apr 2025 04:32pm - Edited by: MtnDon
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Solubor also works to kill off a carpenter ant infestation.. About 8 or 10 years ago some carpenter ants decided to move into some beams in our small barn. I found a dusting of fine wood dust on the bench. Over a few days it became a heavier dusting with little piles. Closer inspection revealed a bunch of "boreholes" along an overhead 6x8 beam. After ID'ing them as carpenter ants I baited them with a dry mix of solubor and confectioners sugar so the workers would take the mix inside and get the queen. Then I sprayed a water solution of solubor all over everything wood. Repeated several times. Wrapped some towels around the timber to hopefully allow more soak in time. I haven't had a recurrence.
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DRP
Member
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# Posted: 12 Apr 2025 08:31pm
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Yes, the active ingredient in Terro ant bait is borax. We are at the spring season when we have to bait the ants looking for trouble.
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