Which epoxy to use on dry rot on a Mahogany Cabin Cruiser?

[Spin_Drift]

Which epoxy to use on dry rot on a Mahogany Cabin Cruiser?

We have a small amount of dry rot on the bow, the stern above the waterline, and around the cabin windows where the rubber seals have leaked.

Wood has became spongy, though it still has it's grain pattern.

We'd like to know the difference, if any, on these two systems, and your experience using either the CPES system or the WEST system. Pros and cons? Why's and How's? Any discoloration of mahogany? etc, etc...

Another product you would suggest and why?

We are ready to start working on this in the next week or two.


Thanks,

[waikikin]

Spin-drift, I'd use a bit of new matching wood scarfed in well beyond evidence of decay with some west(or any other good quality) to glue it in- much more better than rejuvenating rotten wood to be "rotten wood soaked with epoxy" Jeff.

[Hunter25]

Epoxy is plastic in a can. Even though a few epoxy companies advertise about the restorative qualities on wood, it does not restore anything. It can place a plastic coating around the broken down wood fibers and it can be used with fillers to return some of the mass missing from the wood. It no longer is wood once this treatment is done, it is wood covered in plastic, which can lead to other problems.

Some will attempt to convince you to coat the areas with CPES or West, but experience has proven to me, that the bad piece has to be removed if an epoxy treatment is to work without trapping moisture. Epoxy locks the moisture content of the wood to a continuous state, when the piece is completely coated. If the epoxy is just painted on one side, the moisture content will change with the environment and the plastic coating will try to prevent the normal swelling and contraction of the piece to a degree. Something has to give and it is usually the brittle plastic coating in the case of regular epoxy. If CPES is used this way then uncoated wood next to the coated wood will rot, because the plastic coating will not let moisture out, trapping it inside the uncoated sections.

Cut out the rotten areas, back to good solid wood and glue in repair pieces. Epoxy can be the glue for the repair. Epoxy with filler can smooth things up before painting too.

[gonzo]

Ditto. A lump of epoxy adhered to rot is not a repair but wishfull thinking and denial.