Has this wood been treated for woodworm or rot with some chemicals?

[jamiegw]

Alot of the wood in our barn has signs of woodworm and has previous been painted with something. Does anyone have an idea what it may be?

There are also some pine battens that have something green on them...any ideas?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Looks like Cuprinol wood preservative. The green marker dye helps you to see where you have slapped it on

 

[JohnD]

The brown stuff might be a coal-tar product, like creosote. It does not appear to have worked.

Both are intentionally toxic and in some countries you are not allowed to burn treated wood.

 

[jamiegw]

The brown stuff might be a coal-tar product, like creosote. It does not appear to have worked.

Both are intentionally toxic and in some countries you are not allowed to burn treated wood.

Is that also something to consider if we want to sand the wood?

 

[JohnD]

I suppose so, but I haven't seen it mentioned. Why would you want to sand carcassing timber? The damaged parts need to be cut out.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

The brown stuff might be a coal-tar product, like creosote. It does not appear to have worked.

Both are intentionally toxic and in some countries you are not allowed to burn treated wood.

It used to be fairly common to coat timber in barns with tar, bitumen or creosote as a preservative (whatever was the cheapest) - hence the black colour that some old beams have, which isn't age as some people suppose. Tar and bitumen clog up sandpaper double quick, creosote isn't quite as bad. Personally I wouldn't sand anything with a preservative on/in it, or burn it for that matter. On big refurbs the way old timber is normally "refinished" is to have is shot blasted with something like coarse ground cherry pits or walnut kernels (not sand or glass). As John says, though, the damaged parts need to be cut out and replaced first

 

[jamiegw]

I suppose so, but I haven't seen it mentioned. Why would you want to sand carcassing timber? The damaged parts need to be cut out.

So far I've only found one piece that was really brittle and damaged. The other parts look and sound solid despite the evidence of woodworm.

It used to be fairly common to coat timber in barns with tar, bitumen or creosote as a preservative (whatever was the cheapest) - hence the black colour that some old beams have, which isn't age as some people suppose. Tar and bitumen clog up sandpaper double quick, creosote isn't quite as bad. Personally I wouldn't sand anything with a preservative on/in it, or burn it for that matter. On big refurbs the way old timber is normally "refinished" is to have is shot blasted with something like coarse ground cherry pits or walnut kernels (not sand or glass). As John says, though, the damaged parts need to be cut out and replaced first

This area will remain in use as a barn, so how it looks isn't of much concern to us really. But I'll be sure to find all damaged areas.