The Wood Rot Solution: Recipe for Stopping Wood Rot

Ordinarily I enjoy household projects once I am committed to the task but repairing rot in an old wooden window frame is a job I faced with dread. The bay window where I have my indoor flower garden was constructed around a huge piece of wood-framed glass rescued from an old pharmacy under demolition 30 years ago. The rest is cinderblock and rough sawn oak stained Jacobean on the outside and painted white in the interior.




The geraniums and I got along well. They thrived on the neglect I dished out and the same plants were in place over 20 years, blazing red. Once a month or so I’d soak them and a couple times a year I’d whack them back and pull out the dead leaves but mostly the giving was on their side.

Then two weeks before Christmas they all died in about three days and after I hauled out the corpses I could no longer ignore the daylight coming in through gaps in the wood frame and supports under the window. Both the inside and the outside frame were disasters.

I did not want to go digging in there. I got through the holidays by placing potted poinsettias in the bed to hide the disaster, a tactic that was hideously expensive for a very temporary and purely cosmetic solution. As advised by White House Nurseries in Sparks I let the soil 'rest' for 6 months. But by June I had a dinner party on the schedule and that room was where we would be dining. The poinsettias were history.

I bought 20 new geraniums from White House and my beloved helped me repot them, knowing it would probably be more than a month until they could be put in the soil of the repaired window.



Last week, when I began pulling out the rot created by condensation over the years, I saw that the whole 8’ x 7’ piece of glass was supported primarily by a two inch section of solid wood and that most of the support beams could be flicked away in chunks with my ungloved finger.



Having no money to take on a replacement window or an expensive repair I found this state of affairs overwhelming. I kept finding new places where a screwdriver could be pushed all the way through the beams. There were things going on in there I didn’t want to know about; ant, or termite, infestation for one.



The Light of my Life found a recipe online for a solution to stop rot that you could mix up yourself. It’s 50% anti-freeze, 28% boric acid and 22% borax (as in Twenty Mule Team Borax. Yes, they still sell it. I got it at Wal-Mart.) You have to cook the mixture. I thought surely the fumes would be toxic but he assured me this would not be so and he was right. There was very little odor at all. (see recipe below)



I applied the mixture with a turkey baster kept in the tool room for various non-food applications. I soaked the wood in this solution, put a fan on it and waited for it to dry.



In the meantime I found a place to buy wood petrifier and filler which is supposed to harden the soft areas. I had to buy a case of it because it was a special order. And the garage in town sold me some epoxy auto body filler that I know from past experience can be troweled in to replace the missing wood, then sanded and painted to match the existing, such as it is. The total cost will be about $350, I think. But a replacement bay with operational windows would cost close to $6000 installed. That’s not happening.

It’s going to be a long job and there was no way it could be finished and new geraniums planted before our dinner party last Sunday. We placed new potted geraniums in front the work and guests had clear view of the surgery if they chose to look. It didn’t spoil anyone’s appetite.

Since this is a project in process I’ll start with the pictures I have so far and add as the work proceeds.


Recipe for stopping wood rot, killing ant infestations, and repairing remaining damaged areas.


1. Using a screwdriver and small wire brush, or hand held electric rotary tool, clear all loose rotted wood out of the area to be treated. Vacuum the area, if possible, to get up dust and small loose pieces of wood debris. Protect from further water damage.



2. Mix together in a three or four gallon pot:


• One gallon antifreeze


• Two quarts plus one cup boric acid powder


• One and ¾ quarts borax powder


3. Cook and stir until all dry ingredients are dissolved and mixture is boiling. Allow to cool.


4. When ready to use, mix 50/50 with anti-freeze and apply mixture liberally to prepared wood.


5. Allow to dry while continuing to protect the area from water.


6. To firm up soft, remaining wood find PC-Petrifier Wood Hardener. (PC-Products is located in Allentown, PA and their website is: www.pcepoxy.com)


7. Apply as directed

 8. Fill missing wood with PC-Woody or Bondo Automotive Epoxy (http://bondo.com/)


9. Sand, paint or stain and caulk to match existing.