Wood advice for pedestal

[IanB]

Hi all,
I'm planning to replace the base of the large pedestal in our front porch, which is rotten. My intention is to cut it where the red line is in the attached photo as the wood is sound above that, and turn a piece to fit in below.

My question is what wood would you use? The original is (120 year old) pine, no doubt much better quality than the standard pine available now - so would you just use pine or is there a better choice? It's 145 X 145 mm square so needs to be readily available in a large dimension (though I'd expect to have to laminate two pieces) and be paintable.

Thanks,
Ian

 

[Jacob]

I'd be inclined to patch it up in situ.
Wait til it's bone dry, strip, cut out rotten wood, fill, paint. You are looking at failed modern paint here - I'd recommend linseed oil paint instead.

 

[IanB]

Thanks - but it's rotten pretty much right through, definitely beyond patching up

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I'd be inclined to patch it up in situ.
Wait til it's bone dry, strip, cut out rotten wood, fill, paint. You are looking at failed modern paint here - I'd recommend linseed oil paint instead.

No, you're looking at a few decades of no paint at all.

 

[Doug71]

Accoya?

It paints well and will outlast most things. Downsides in your situation are it's not as tough as some hardwoods and the acids in it will rust that piece of steel, although you could probably seal the end of it with epoxy or something.

If you don't like the idea of Accoya maybe Iroko?

 

[Jacob]

No, you're looking at a few decades of no paint at all.

No that's modern paint lifting off. The cracks and flakes actually allow water in and may keep the wood wet and accelerate rot. Linseed doesn't flake off and lasts much longer.

 

[Jacob]

Thanks - but it's rotten pretty much right through, definitely beyond patching up

Doesn't look quite past it in the photo?
Basic rule of period building maintenance/repair is to do as little as necessary. You can always have another go!
If you aim to replace you may find other problems and more work.
Unsorted redwood is what you need but you could have a prob looking for 6" square stuff.

 

[thetyreman]

I'd patch up the worse bits with some redwood pine and paint with linseed as jacob suggests, best option without re-making it, and do it soon before it completely rots, you'll never find wood as good as they had from 100+ years ago, it looks like pitch pine.

 

[IanB]

It is rotten through to the centre near the bottom - you can push a screwdriver right in. It's also rotten around where the iron bar joins - that is part of the original fencing but is redundant and won't be replaced. My thinking for replacing it up to the red line is that the most unobtrusive place for a join.

Thanks for the tip about linseed paint, that's good to know.

 

[Bob Chapman]

Go to someone who deals in reclaimed timber and get some pitch pine the right size.

 

[Fitzroy]

Skips around older property neighbourhoods often have old roof timbers that yield large enough sections to laminate up into something that size, the timbers are often of the same vintage as yours would have been, slow grown and full of sap.

 

[IanB]

Good suggestions, thanks!

 

[Grandad455]

Have you thought about the local BT or electricity board depots? A piece of well seasoned timber from a line pole. I managed to get some years back for a school playground. Worth a try.

 

[Jacob]

It is rotten through to the centre near the bottom - you can push a screwdriver right in. It's also rotten around where the iron bar joins - that is part of the original fencing but is redundant and won't be replaced. My thinking for replacing it up to the red line is that the most unobtrusive place for a join.

Thanks for the tip about linseed paint, that's good to know.

View attachment 157974View attachment 157975

OK can see it's a bit rotten - but it's not collapsing so there's material there still in good condition enough to keep it going with just patch, fill, repair.
Could be good for 20 years or more if paint kept in good condition.