Woodworm/wet rot in shed

kuepper

Was going to repaint the door and surround of my stone wall/slated-roof garden shed but when I started to do prep work I noticed the fascia above the door was splitting in a couple of places and had quite a few woodworm exit holes and a few in the lintel (pic 1). I then noticed there was loads of exit holes in the lintel surface on the inside of the shed (pic 2)and that when I exposed the end of the lintel outside it looked like it had rotted through rain penetration and maybe woodworm too (pic3). No idea how long things have been like that, it could have been years.

If it was part of my house rather than at the end of my garden i'd get a builder in to replace all affected wood but as it's just a shed that seems OTT expensive so I'm thinking DIY. The surfaces with exit holes are all painted so I gather the wood can't be treated with woodworm killer and the lintel seems quite sturdy despite the visible damage. I have very ltd diy ability and my thoughts are to use wood hardener on the rotted lintel end, put filler in the split fascia and fill the void around the exposed lintel end with mortar. I just wondered what others would do in the same situation.

Bendy_House

I think I'd call that fascia board 'beyond help'. It's also not even deep enough to do the job of covering the lintel, so it's pants even at that job.

I'd remove it, and then you'll be able to get proper access to the lintel behind it.

Check it over for strength, and be confident that it is still strong enough to do its job - it probably is, but check!

When all the treatment is done, then a PVC fascia - could be anthracite colour, for example - would be a better bet, and make it deep enough to fully cover the timber lintel. Can't cost much.

So, once the fascia is off, scrape any obviously loose paint off the lintel. Then get a 5L can of Everbuild Triple-Action wood preserver, and a small pump-up garden sprayer (and a mask and overalls...). Even a hand 'trigger' sprayer will do.

Soak - repeatedly, until it stops drawing in liquid - all the exposed timber, especially the end of the lintel. Ditto on the painted inside - it should get drawn into the wormholes at least. If it looks as tho' the spray is largely running off and being wasted due to the paint, then it may be better to keep brushing the stuff over it - each hole should suck in on each pass... Keep brushing brushing brushing...

Spray into the gap along the top of the lintel - inject it right in there, and keep redoing this until fully soaked. And along the bottom gap. And then do the ends again...

Allow to dry fully - at least a couple of days even in this weather.

Hardener is not really needed, unless you also plan to fill the rotted parts with wood filler. As long as it's soaked in preservative, and then kept covered (by the new fascia) away from rain, it should be fine.

kuepper

Bendy_House said:

I think I'd call that fascia board 'beyond help'. It's also not even deep enough to do the job of covering the lintel, so it's pants even at that job.

I'd remove it, and then you'll be able to get proper access to the lintel behind it.

Check it over for strength, and be confident that it is still strong enough to do its job - it probably is, but check!

When all the treatment is done, then a PVC fascia - could be anthracite colour, for example - would be a better bet, and make it deep enough to fully cover the timber lintel. Can't cost much.

So, once the fascia is off, scrape any obviously loose paint off the lintel. Then get a 5L can of Everbuild Triple-Action wood preserver, and a small pump-up garden sprayer (and a mask and overalls...). Even a hand 'trigger' sprayer will do.

Soak - repeatedly, until it stops drawing in liquid - all the exposed timber, especially the end of the lintel. Ditto on the painted inside - it should get drawn into the wormholes at least. If it looks as tho' the spray is largely running off and being wasted due to the paint, then it may be better to keep brushing the stuff over it - each hole should suck in on each pass... Keep brushing brushing brushing...

Spray into the gap along the top of the lintel - inject it right in there, and keep redoing this until fully soaked. And along the bottom gap. And then do the ends again...

Allow to dry fully - at least a couple of days even in this weather.

Hardener is not really needed, unless you also plan to fill the rotted parts with wood filler. As long as it's soaked in preservative, and then kept covered (by the new fascia) away from rain, it should be fine.

Thanks for that, that preserver sounds the job. However, while I know what you're saying re the fascia, unfortunately it's part of a long length of fascia and guttering that;s shared with next door's shed (but their part of the fascia has no obvious signs of any problem) so to replace it would mean taking the gutter off (it's shared across both sheds) in order to replace it and replacing the fascia across both sheds. I'm wary enough about diy on my property let alone anyone else's, and that's assuming they'd let me work on their property. I'm not even sure how I'd support the gutter even if I only had my own separate fascia.to remove.

macman

Why can't you cut it at the boundary and replace on your side only?

kuepper

macman said:

Why can't you cut it at the boundary and replace on your side only?

 I simply haven't the skill/confidence nor maybe the right tools to do that properly. The boundary is in an awkward place and  it'd involve taking the whole shared gutter off to get at it which would involve getting neighbours permission and going onto their land