Wood Roll Up Door preservation,... HELP !

[Harms Way]

Hi Everyone,

I have been lurking here for a long time, I didn't want to start posting yet about this because I haven't closed on this building quite yet, and I didn't want to jinx myself,... I should close on it in a week or two, But with winter coming up there are things I am working on now to preserve the exterior as much as possible while the weather is still co-operating. I need advice on what to do about the Wood Roll up door's.

The Building is a old Mobil 3 bay station built in 1937 or 38,.. I build Traditional Hot Rods, and this building will be used for that purpose, I just got done "tuck pointing" the brick on the building today and started working on the exterior of the Roll Up doors. The inside of the doors are rock solid and they roll up and down like new,..... However on the outside of the doors the wood is a little soft to 1/8" to 1/4" on some areas with some weathering texture, I want to seal them up and paint them with something durable like a heavy enamel, But have been thinking about using some of that stuff they use on wood boat hulls to seal up "pith".

I guess what I need to know( I tried to search this subject and couldn't find anything), Is have any of you guy's been through this before,.. and what did you do ? Or are there any exterior wood "Guru's" here that can lead me in the right direction?, I don't want to replace the doors because they are the original doors, they look really cool, they operate great,... and I couldn't afford to replace them for a few years at least !

Well thats it !,... What would you guy's do ?

(BTW as soon as I close on this I would be happy to post pictures if any of you are interested,... Thanks!)

 

[Franz©]

You're talking dryrot chaser. It's just polyester resin thinned with solvent.
The problem is it only works well on horizontal surfaces unless you can apply a membrane over the wet surface and **** the ait out of the wood first.

 

[Harms Way]

You're talking dryrot chaser. It's just polyester resin thinned with solvent.
The problem is it only works well on horizontal surfaces unless you can apply a membrane over the wet surface and **** the ait out of the wood first.

Thanks for the tip Franz,... but those two options seem a little beyond my ability at this point,.... but again, thanks for the idea.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

May have to disassemble the door(s) and lay the pieces flat on sawhorses and do the sanding and prep and dryrot resin that way.

I hope you got a clear hazardous waste report on the property. Old gas stations scare me EPA wise.

Charles

 

[Harms Way]

May have to disassemble the door(s) and lay the pieces flat on sawhorses and do the sanding and prep and dryrot resin that way.

I hope you got a clear hazardous waste report on the property. Old gas stations scare me EPA wise.

Charles

I have a friend in state government (senator) that checked it out with the EPA and the DEQ for me and this particular property is a non issue, The station stopped being a gas station in 1958,.. when the new freeway was built and went right past the town (also killed the town,... it was a tiny town to start with, it still looks like the world stopped in 1958),... the Tanks were dug out in 1960.

I called a friend I use to work with at the Henry Ford Museum / Greenfield Village,... he also said the best thing to do was to disassemble the doors and use the "Dry Rot resin",... But also told me that a high end product that was made for exterior wood restoration, chemically worked out to be automotive "Bondo" ! and your suppose to "skim coat the wood, these doors will be painted,... so I am trying to research this.

 

[Franz©]

Tain't Bondo, more of a component of Bondo.

Dryrot chaser is a thinned polyester resin. Polyester resin is what is mixed with wax, clay and filler to make Bondo.
Dryrot chaser is a liquid. It has a viscoscity similar to hydraulic oil, that allows it to wick in and penetrate. The trick to Dryrot chaser is impeding the oxydation of the liquid so it doesn't set up before it penetrates.

Oxydation is what causes polyester resins to set up.

 

[Pure Oil]

What a lucky guy to be getting a place like that - looking forward to seeing pictures of it!