Ask the Builder: Bad Deck Flashing Causes Hidden Rot

Mother nature has taught us how to protect our homes from the elements.
Ask the Builder: Bad Deck Flashing Causes Hidden Rot
This is severe wood rot that has compromised the corner of this home. Poor workmanship is the cause. The carpenter installed the flashing wrong. Tim Carter/Tribune Content Agency
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Ed, my golf league partner, asked me a few days ago if there was a product to fix some wood rot he had discovered at his home. You may be battling wood rot, too. In your case, it might be interior wall studs or floor joists that get wet from a plumbing leak. Or you may have some decorative exterior wood trim that’s falling apart. This happened to my very good friend Steve out in California. Allow untreated wood to stay wet for long periods of time, and you’re going to experience wood rot.

I told Ed that there was an amazing wood epoxy and a wood hardener that he could use, assuming the rot was minimal. I made it clear he had to send me a few photos of the problem the next day.

Tim Carter
Tim Carter
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Tim Carter is the founder of AsktheBuilder.com. He's an amateur radio operator and enjoys sending Morse code sitting at an actual telegrapher's desk. Carter lives in central New Hampshire with his wife, Kathy, and their dog, Willow. Subscribe to his FREE newsletter at AsktheBuilder.com. He now does livestreaming video M-F at 4 PM Eastern Time at youtube.com/askthebuilder. (C)2022 Tim Carter. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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