“But a kettle of scalding hot water injected,
Infallibly cures the timber affected;
The omen is broken, the danger is over,
The maggot will die, the sick will recover.”

CHAPTER X.
SUMMARY OF CURATIVE PROCESSES.

The following summary of the most approved formula for preventing and curing the evils of rot is prepared from the works of Tredgold and Wylson; some other more modern receipts have been added from ‘The Builder,’ ‘Architect,’ ‘Building News,’ and other professional periodical publications. Discretion in their use is recommended, and in serious cases we decidedly recommend consulting a professional man who is well acquainted with the subject.

TO PRESERVE WOODWORKS THAT ARE EXPOSED TO WET OR DAMP.

1. For those of an extensive nature, such as bridges, &c. The Hollanders use for the preservation of their sluices and floodgates, drawbridges, and other huge beams of timber exposed to the sun and constant changes of the atmosphere, a certain mixture of pitch and tar, upon which they strew small pieces of shell broken finely—almost to a powder—and mixed with sea-sand, and the scales of iron, small and sifted, which incrusts and preserves it effectually.

2. A paint composed of sub-sulphate of iron (the refuse of the copperas pans), ground up with any common oil, and thinned with coal-tar oil, having a little pitch dissolved in it, is flexible, and impervious to moisture.

3. Linseed oil and tar, in equal parts, well boiled together, and used while boiling, rubbed plentifully over the work while hot, after being scorched all over by wood burnt under it, strikes half an inch or more into the wood, closes the pores, and makes it hard and durable either under or out of water.

4. For fences, and similar works, a coating of coal-tar, sanded over; or, boil together one gallon of coal-tar and 2½ lb. of white copperas, and lay it on hot.

TO PREVENT ROT.

1. Thoroughly season the wood before fixing, and when fixed, have a proper ventilation all round it.

2. Charring, after seasoning, will fortify timber against infection, so will a coating of coal-tar.

TO CURE INCIPIENT DRY ROT.

1. If very much infected, remove the timber, and replace with new.

2. A pure solution of corrosive sublimate in water, in the proportion of an ounce to a gallon, used hot, is considered a very effectual wash.

3. A solution of sulphate of copper, half a pound to the gallon of water, laid on hot.

4. A strong solution of sulphate of iron; this is not so good as sulphate of copper.

5. A strong solution of sulphates of iron and copper in equal parts, half a pound of the sulphates to one and a half gallon of water.

6. Paraffin oil, the commonest and cheapest naphtha and oil, or a little resinous matter dissolved and mixed with oil, will stay the wet rot.

7. Remove the parts affected, and wash with dilute sulphuric acid the remaining woodwork.

8. Dissolve one pound of sulphate of copper in one gallon of boiling water, then add 1¼ lb. of sulphuric acid in six gallons of water, and apply hot.

TO PREVENT WORMS IN TIMBER.

1. Anointing with an oil produced by the immersion of sulphur in aquafortis (nitric acid) distilled to dryness, and exposed to dissolve in the air.

2. Soaking in an infusion of quassia renders the wood bitter.

3. Creosoting timber, if the smell is not objectionable.

4. Anointing the timber with oil of spike, juniper, or turpentine, is efficacious in some degree.

5. For small articles, cover freely with copal varnish in linseed oil.

TO PREVENT WORMS IN MARINE BUILDING.

1. A mixture of lime, sulphur, and colocynth with pitch.

2. Saturating the pores with coal-tar, either alone or after a solution of corrosive sublimate has been soaked and dried into the wood.

3. Sheathing with thin copper over tarred felt is esteemed the best protection for the bottoms of ships for all marine animals; the joints should be stopped with tarred oakum.

4. Studding the parts under water with short broad-headed nails.

TO DESTROY WORMS IN CARVINGS.

1. Fumigate the wood with benzine.

2. Saturate the wood with a strong solution of corrosive sublimate: if used for carvings, the colour should be restored by ammonia, and then by a weak solution of hydrochloric acid; the holes may be stopped up with gum and gelatine, and a varnish of resin dissolved in spirits of wine should afterwards be applied to the surface.

3. Whale-oil and poisonous ointments have been found of service.

The wood should be carefully brushed before being operated upon.

TO DESTROY ANTS AND INSECTS IN WOOD.

1. Corrosive sublimate is an effectual poison to them.

2. Oils, especially essential oils, are good preventives.

3. Cajeput-oil has been proved effectual for destroying the red ant.

4. Payne’s, Bethell’s, and Burnett’s processes are said to be proof against the white ant of India.

5. Dust the parts with pounded quicklime, and then water them with the ammoniacal liquor of gas-works, when the ammonia will be instantly disengaged by the quicklime, and this is destructive to insect life.

6. For the black ant, use powdered borax; or smear the parts frequented by them with petroleum oil; or syringe their nests with fluoric acid or spirits of tar, to be done with a leaden syringe; or pour down the holes boiling water to destroy their nests, and then stop up the holes with cement. Ants dislike arsenic, camphor, and creosote.

The preceding remedies are not by any means given with the intention of superseding the previous chapters, which should be carefully studied by those who wish to acquire a moderate knowledge of the subjects.

CHAPTER XI.
GENERAL REMARKS AND CONCLUSION.

Our task is nearly completed: we have but few general remarks to make.

The decay of wooden sleepers, posts, &c., on our railways and the destruction of timber piles by worms have been the causes of directing the attention of engineers to the preservation of timber. Most of our leading engineers now have the greater portion of the timber used in their works either creosoted or injected with chloride of zinc. Architects, as a rule, do not, unfortunately, adopt any process for preserving timber from rot and decay; and have practically no guarantee that timber used in their works has been thoroughly seasoned: posterity will not thank them for this, and yet they are not solely to blame. The fault in a great measure rests with the public, who require buildings to be erected at the least cost and in the shortest possible time. Moreover, the works executed by our leading builders are so extensive, that they have no room in their yards for large piles of timber to lie and season; and even if they had room it is doubtful if they would allow so much material, representing money, to remain idle. We are acquainted with one instance where a London architect, about a dozen years ago, erected a public building. The front of the reporters’ gallery was formed of oak panelling; and within a year after the completion of the building narrow slips or tongues of wood had to be let in in several places to fill up the holes formed by the shrinkage of the panels. Similar cases to this are by no means rare. We can quote another instance of unseasoned wood. A range of workshops was erected a few years since in South London; the principals of the roof were not ceiled; almost before the building was finished the upper floor was occupied by a battalion of workwomen. The heat of the room (the ventilation being defective) soon had an effect upon the tie-beams, but one beam, which we imagine was unseasoned, in consequence of large shakes and splits, had to be taken out and replaced with new. We will (as a lawyer would say), cite one more case. A church in Surrey required some extensive repairs to the roof: an architect and a builder were employed, and the necessary works were done. Within four years dry rot has made its appearance on the new timbers of the roof (not an air-tight one). One of the churchwardens, on consulting us last year (1874) as to the best means of stopping the rot, energetically remarked, “Who is responsible to us for this, the architect or the builder?” Charles Dickens, in his edition of ‘Bleak House’ in 1868, wrote, with reference to long Chancery suits, “If I wanted other authorities for Jarndyce and Jarndyce, I could rain them on these pages.” We are able to make a similar remark with reference to any more instances of dry rot. According to the 7th chapter of the First Book of Kings, “Solomon was building his own house thirteen years:” we cannot spare so much time now-a-days over the erection of a house, but that is no reason why our timber should not be naturally or artificially seasoned.

If we cannot obtain naturally seasoned timber, by all means let us have artificially seasoned wood. Tredgold, in his Report on Langton’s system,[42] nearly arrived at the secret. We will quote a few words from his Report:

“Mr. Langton having discovered a new method of seasoning timber … by which the time necessary to season green timber, and render it fit for use, is only about twice as many weeks as the ordinary process requires years; … it is more economical, and locks up less capital than the common method.”

We believe we may say that the number of our public buildings which have been erected during the present century with artificially prepared timber can be counted on our eight fingers (without troubling our thumbs) and not exceed that number;[43] and yet we hear of dry rot in the great dome of the Bank of England and other buildings without profiting by the events. We should like to know if the wooden dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral is safe from dry rot, (the domes at the Panthéon and the Halle-au-Blé at Paris were affected,) and plumbers fires.

It is evident that a preservative process, thoroughly suitable for everyday use and applicable to buildings, has yet to be invented: it should be cheap, should render wood uninflammable, should preserve the wood from decay and dry rot, should not harden the wood until some time after its application, and should be colourless and invisible. The invention of such a process will require careful thought and experiments, for it appears to us that the whole theory of any successful plan for the prevention of the dry rot must resolve itself into the solidifying or coagulation of albumen: this means hardening the sap-wood, and causing increased difficulty in working the wood. We can easily illustrate our remarks, by quoting one of the latest patents for preserving timber, which has recently been made public. It is the invention of a gentleman living in England, who has discovered a means of making wood uninflammable, preventing dry rot and decay, and rendering white and yellow pine, both in hardness and appearance, like teak and oak. We have no objection to its rendering wood uninflammable, providing it does not “hurt” the wood; but can the reader believe that any architect, in erecting a moderate-sized villa, would specify that all the joiners’ work, staircases, window-frames and sashes, architraves, skirtings, doors, &c., must be formed of wood as hard as teak; or rather, can the reader imagine the architect’s client would be agreeable to pay the greatly increased cost for the extra labour involved. We do not think this invention will ever be used, at least to any extent, in buildings.

Much yet remains to be done with regard to uninflammable wood for buildings: we think the matter should be dealt with (with reference to joists, floor boards, partitions, doors, staircases, roof timbers, &c.) by a new Buildings Act of Parliament. Stone and iron will not burn, but they are not fire-resisting: brick, artificial stone, and incombustible wood will give us all we desire; the details may be difficult of arrangement, but builders would comply with them if they were imperatively required. At present our houses are formed of brick walls, every room being separated vertically and horizontally from the adjoining rooms by combustible wooden walls. A street built up of fire-proof buildings would be a novelty. The whole subject requires to be dealt with thoroughly, for while we have combustible wooden floors, partitions, &c., we cannot at the same time have a fire-proof building. We have not been able to spare the space, or else we should have devoted a long chapter to this subject; a superficial consideration (such as alum and water) would have been practically useless.

In conclusion, we can only summarize our remarks on the cause of dry rot, by saying, “Season and ventilate,” in every case: as to the cure, that is not so easy to deal with. If the reader has ever had a decayed tooth aching, a friend has probably said, “Have it out;” and we say, wherever there is a piece of timber decayed in a building which can be removed, “Have it out, and stop up with new;” and in so advising we are merely following the advice to be found in a good old volume, which has never yet been equalled, and which says:

“And, behold, if the plague be in the walls of the house with hollow strakes, greenish or reddish, which in sight are lower than the wall; … Then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the plague is, and they shall cast them into an unclean place without the city: And he shall cause the house to be scraped within round about, and they shall pour out the dust that they scrape off without the city into an unclean place: And they shall take other stones, and put them in the place of those stones; and he shall take other mortar, and shall plaister the house.”—Leviticus xiv. 37, 40, 41, and 42.

This course will not, however, suit every case, for when the rot has spread in many directions, the best and cheapest course is to consult some professional man, well versed in the peculiarities of dry rot, before determining upon any remedy, for we have shown in the course of this work that the disease may arise from various causes; and it is not a difficult matter to select the wrong remedy, and thus increase the disease.

We trust the reader has found in this volume at least some hints which may be of service to him. A new house affected with dry rot is an unhealthy one to live in, and an old one is worse than the new; we mean the kind of house referred to in one line by an American poet, as follows:

“O’er whose unsteady floor, that sways and bends.”
Longfellow.

FOOTNOTES

[1] See white faces of workmen.

[2] See London newspapers, July, 1812.

[3] ‘Fire Surveys,’ p. 58.

[4] ‘Directions to Cure the Dry Rot.’ 1807.

[5] See Report of the Officers of Portsmouth Yard, 1792.

[6] See Tredgold’s Report on this process, May 2, 1828.

[7] See No. 1, p. 3, Appendix to first volume of ‘Naval Architecture.’

[8] See paper on “Kyan’s Process” by Captain R. C. Alderson, C.E., in vol. i. ‘Papers of Royal Engineers.’

[9] See Chapman, Boydon, Jackson, and Kyan’s methods.

[10] See ‘London Journal of Arts,’ March, 1842; ‘Bull. de l’Encouragement,’ June, 1842.

[11] See ‘Repertory of Patent Inventions,’ December, 1836.

[12] See ‘Étuves de Désiccation et Appareil pour l’lnjection des Bois.’ Par MM. Dorsett et Blythé, manufacturiers, à Bordeaux. 1859.

[13] See ‘Repertory of Patent Inventions’ April, 1847.

[14] See Chap. IV., p. 97.

[15] See coating for piles, p. 161.

[16] See ‘Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,’ v. 7, page 433; ‘Tredgold’s Carpentry’ by J. T. Hurst, 1871; ‘Histoire de l’Acad.,’ 1765, page 15; ‘Ann. des Ponts et Chaussées,’ v. 15, page 307; ‘Mem. sur la Conservation des Bois à la Mer,’ 1868, by Forestier; ‘Bois de Marine,’ by Quatrefages, 1848.

[17] There are eight kinds of teredines, of which three are to be found in European waters, viz. the Teredo fatalis, Teredo navalis, Teredo bipennata.

[18] See ‘Memoirs of Sir M. I. Brunel;’ also, for particulars of the construction of the shield designed by him for forming the Tunnel, Weale’s ‘London Exhibited,’ and ‘A Memoir of the Thames Tunnel,’ in Weale’s Quarterly Papers on Engineering.

[19] Note geometrical framing in spider’s web.

[20] ‘Reports of the Juries,’ Exhibition, 1851. ‘Reports’ by Dr. Gibson, Conservator of Forests, Bombay Presidency. ‘Reports’ by Dr. Cleghorn, Conservator of Forests, Madras Presidency. ‘Reports’ by Mr. H. B. Baden Powell, Inspector-General of the Forest Department, India, 1875. ‘Reports’ on the Teak Forests of Tenasserim, Calcutta, 1852. Papers by Mr. Mann and Mr. Heath on ‘Decay of Woods in Tropical Climates,’ Inst. C.E., 1866. Paper on ’ The Ravages of the Limnoria Terebrans,’ by Mr. R. Stevenson, Royal Society, 1862. ‘Account of the Bell Rock Lighthouse,’ by Robert Stevenson, 1824. Stevenson’s ‘Design and Construction of Harbours.’ Smeaton’s ‘Reports.’

[21] See ‘Sur un Moyen de Mettre tous les Approvisionnements de Bois de la Marine de la Piqûre des Tarets’ (Compte. rend., Janv. 1848).

[22] ‘Report of German Commission relative to rendering Woodwork and Stage Materials Incombustible.’ Professor Fuchs and Dr. Pettenkofer’s Reports. Dr. Feuchtwanger’s works. M. Kuhlman’s pamphlet. ‘Reports relative to Ransome’s Process.’ Note M. Szerelmey’s patent, 21 July, 1868.

[23] See ‘Memoirs on the Use of Cast Iron in Piling,’ by Mr. M. A. Borthwick, ‘Trans. Inst. Civ. Eng.’ vol. i. No. 22.

[24] See Hurst’s ‘Tredgold’s Carpentry,’ p. 380, 1871. London.

[25] See Charlesworth’s ‘Magazine of Natural History,’ 1838, Art. Myrmica domestica. Also, ‘Boston Journal of Natural History,’ 1834, p. 993, Art. Myrmica molesta.

[26] Thunberg’s ‘Travels,’ vol. ii. p. 300.

[27] ‘Expedition to Surinam.’ By Captain Stedman. 1813. London.

[28] Kœmpfer’s ‘Japan,’ vol. ii.

[29] ‘Voyage de Spartmann au cap de Bonne-Espérance: voy. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. de Guérin.’ 1839.

[30] See Paper by Mr. J. B. Hartley, read before the Institution of Civil Engineers, London, 23rd June, 1840, “On the Effects of the Worm on Kyanized Timber exposed to the Action of Sea Water; and on the Use of Greenheart Timber from Demerara.”

[31] Margary’s process failed to preserve wood from rot on the Bristol and Exeter Railway, England.

[32] See Paper by Mr. Thomas Hounslow, of the Royal Engineers’ Department, published in ‘Engineering,’ p. 198, 21st September, 1866. Also, Hurst’s edition of ‘Tredgold’s Carpentry,’ page 380. 1871. London.

[33] See Maconochie’s suggestion, p. 163.

[34] ‘Insects Abroad.’ By the Rev. J. Wood. 1874. London.

[35] ‘Histoire de l’Académie,’ p. 38. 1705. See also M. Maxime Paulet’s communication to the Academy, 27th April, 1874.

[36] Their Majesties’ Commission for the Rebuilding of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, in London. London: Printed by Benjamin Motte. 1692.

[37] Workmen would now think this clause a striking one.

[38] See lecture by Mr. W. G. Rogers, “On the Carvings of Grinling Gibbons,” delivered at the Royal Institute of British Architects, 3rd June, 1867.

[39] Paper by M. de Laperier, of the Belgian Legation, read at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries, relative to Flemish origin of English carving.

[40] The large pulpit is not from the design of Sir Christopher Wren, nor is the carving by Grinling Gibbons.

[41] See engraving in the ‘Art Journal,’ 1866.

[42] See Tredgold’s Report on this process, May 2, 1828.

[43] See Bartholomew’s’ Specifications,’ and Professor Donaldson’s valuable work on ‘Specifications,’ which comprises many examples by modern architects. The usual clause is: “The timber to be well seasoned (is it?), free from large knots, shakes, and other defects.”

INDEX.