Managing wet wood

Discussion in 'Fiberglass and Composite Boat Building' started by DogCavalry, Jan 5, 2021.

  1. DogCavalry
    Joined: Sep 2019
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    DogCavalry Senior Member

    So my boat shelter doesn't leak, but it might as well. Condensation drips regularly from the tarp and framework, such that the wooden superstructure I'm building is often damp, and occasionally wet. There's generally an inch of water standing in the lowest points.

    I propose to put on the wheelhouse roof and that will protect the interior from direct drips, if not damp air. My question is this: can I epoxy the upper side of exposed wet components, if I leave the opposite face untreated until dry weather. Can the kiln dried lunber dry out through just one face well enough that next spring I can finish epoxy/glass work on it, after it's been surface dry for a few weeks, without trapping enough moisture to get rot in a few years?

    DC
     
  2. DogCavalry
    Joined: Sep 2019
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    DogCavalry Senior Member

    20201206_143459.jpg
    Like this. As you can see, most of the ground inside thd shelter is under water.
     
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  3. Blueknarr
    Joined: Aug 2017
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    Blueknarr Senior Member

    Don't even try to resin moist wood. There will be little to no adhesion of the epoxy to the wood.
     
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  4. BlueBell
    Joined: May 2017
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    BlueBell . . . _ _ _ . . . _ _ _

    Can those components be removed, dried, coated, and replaced?
     
  5. DogCavalry
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    DogCavalry Senior Member

    Most of them. Top rails are 17' long.
     
  6. missinginaction
    Joined: Aug 2007
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    missinginaction Senior Member

    What you have there is a greenhouse. But even a greenhouse is ventilated. That's what those big fans are for. Open up the ends. When I built my boat I built an a-frame structure with the ends open. I still use that same style for winter storage. Never had a problem with condensation except for the few times when the relative humidity was 100% and the temperatures were dropping. If you open up the ends, your problem will be solved in short order. I hope the structure is long enough, otherwise you'll need to modify it a bit.

    MIA
     
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  7. hoytedow
    Joined: Sep 2009
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    hoytedow Carbon Based Life Form

    You need to warm the shelter so the temperature stays above condensation point. Even a worklight or 2 with incandescent bulbs would help.
     
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  8. DogCavalry
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    DogCavalry Senior Member

    Yeah. Hard to ventilate enough without leaving it open. But I can certainly improve that some.
     
  9. fallguy
    Joined: Dec 2016
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    fallguy Senior Member

    Do NOT epoxy over wet or even high moisture content wood. If you believe it bonded well, it rots from the inside if wet, and the glass and epoxy only serve to maintain the high emc and the great environment for rot.

    You and me are in a similar situation, but I got a little firther ahead and closed the cabin last summer late.

    The only thing you can try is as follows.

    2" pink polystyrene sheets set atop the cabin walls, plastic over them and an oil filled electric radiator heater; the condensation will fall onto the plastic and the cabin inside will be warm enough.

    After you find a dry enough time period and some time has passed with the heat on, you could glue your roof panels on and then return the plastic up and over it all.

    But dry is the only way John. If you allow puddles or the woods get damp; you will build it and it will rot. There are examples all the time from the tropics.
     
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  10. fallguy
    Joined: Dec 2016
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    fallguy Senior Member

    I am in a tent, but Minnesota is dry in winter unless the temp goes above freezing and then it gets damp.

    another idea for you is displacement; you could bring in a truckload of gravel and raise the floor up so the water flows away from your workspace 64B0A91A-1610-4BB3-A334-8C4F0B1DFE98.jpeg
     
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