Dry Rot

[Mark747]

while going over a newly acquired canoe I noticed a broken seat. I m concerned about dry rot. Are there certain areas more succeptable to dry rot and if it’s in one area what is the probability that it is all dry rotted?

 

[Todd Bradshaw]

I'm seeing a cracked seat frame (which could happen for variety of reasons) but I'm not seeing any obvious rot, dry or otherwise. Is there an area where the wood is crumbling, powdery or getting soft? Rot requires food (the wood itself) air (which is pretty much everywhere) and pretty serious exposure to moisture to form. Since it is basically suspended mid-air with good ventilation around it, I would think a seat frame would be one of the less prone areas for rot on a canoe.

 

[Mark747]

No soft wood or powder anywhere. I think it broke when getting it out of the barn. I got it partway out and sat it on the sawhorse again. I didn’t drop it and feel as though it took very little pressure to break it.

 

[MGC]

It would be really easy to tell if rot is an issue...take a sharp awl or a pointed pocket knife blade and try pushing it into the wood in the area you suspect is bad...if it's punky it will be really easy to tell. The awl point will push in easily. Do this test on the underside of the seat where it won't show...you may decide that the seat frame can be repaired.

 

[Mark747]

Fixing it as we speak. Going to glue break and dowel from the bottom not going the whole way through. Will probably add a solid piece across the bottom for extra strength

 

[Dave Osborn]

Rather than adding adding a piece under the break, I have on occasion milled a half inch groove across the underside of the break and fit and epoxied a white oak spline in the groove.

 

[Mark747]

Great idea Dave. I’ll do that for sure