[?] Dealing with wood rot in decorative house fascia. (U.K.)

[David Chapman]

I do hope that I'm posting in the correct newsgroup - my apologies if
I'm not!

Here's my problem:-

As part of the fascia (if that's even the right word) at the front of
our 1930s built house in South East England is a wooden decorative
piece, see picture of an identical one at:-

http://www.minda.co.uk/files/fascia.jpg

I recently noticed that the wood underneath the white paint is
seriously rotted and will soon need to be replaced or treated/repaired.

I don't know, or have enough knowledge about house-building to be able
to tell, if that piece of wood is structural or merely decorative.

Before attempting to do anything myself, I thought I'd better ask in
this NG to see if anyone can identify how the shaped wooden piece shown
in the picture might be attached to the front of the house - could it
actually be supporting any of the brickwork above? - and perhaps give me
some advice on how best to deal with the rot.

Could I just use one of the combination wood sealer and filler
products that are advertised for dealing with wood rot or is some more
serious repair work necessary?

All constructive comments and/or suggestions will be most gratefully
received.

TIA - Dave.

--
David C.Chapman - (dcch...@minda.co.uk)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

[jloomis]

That looks like a decorative corbel, and is more likely not structural, but
design feature.
You can more than likely remove it, and make a new one, and replace it.
I can only imagine that it is a beam coming out above it.
Since I can only view it from a picture, that is my best guess.
I noticed that many painted items on and around older homes, such as window
trims,
door trims, fence post and gates, all have some rot under their many coated
layers of paint.
I think that water has got in, and or been sealed in by the many coats of
paint, and like putting a piece of wood
in a plastic bag, it bakes in there.
So, they seem to be more prone to rot.
john

"David Chapman" wrote in message
news:KQwL1bDl...@chassis.demon.co.uk...

[willshak]

I agree that that is a corbel in the picture as jloomis said, but that
is not a picture of your corbel, so his comment about a beam above it
may not apply.
Got a digital camera? Know how to put pictures up on a file sharing
site, like Shutterfly, Picassa, etc.?


--
Bill
In Hamptonburg, NY
In the Original Orange County (est. 1683)
To Email, remove the double zeros after @

[David Chapman]

In message <ki7mh2$h70$1...@dont-email.me>, willshak
<will...@00hvc.rr.com> writes

Agreed, that is not a picture of my corbel but that of the unblemished
and *absolutely identical* one on the other half of our semi-detached
house.
I photographed that one because I was ashamed to submit a picture of
our one ;-)

Hope that explains things.

ATB - Dave.

[jloomis]

Well it has to have a beam above it?
The corbel is just that, decoration.
Can you pry the rot away from the above protrusion to see if there is a
beam?
Can you see a beam on the interior?
Not enough information, and yes, some investigating would need to be in
order.
I can only guess, that it is decorative, but that is a pretty knowledgeable
guess.

john

"David Chapman" wrote in message

news:F7U40PAl...@chassis.demon.co.uk...

[richard]

Does the UK jurisdiction have a central place where building blue prints
are registered?
If they do, see if they have one for your house. You can at leask look and
be able to tell if the corbel is an add on or the end of a real beam.

Then if it is rotted out, have a good craftsman replace it with a new one.
heh, you might even find one made of plastic.

[David Chapman]

Very many thanks to those people who took the time to respond to my
posting and offer constructive suggestions.
Your comments are much appreciated and have given me a good 'steer' as
to the best way forward.