I've got an old horsebox, the main box is made of thick mahogony tongue and groove. How do you go about sealing it/making it weatherproof? I cleaned all the gaps nicely and put some clear silicon in which worked for about a week. Then the hot weather came and the tongue and groove contracted and ripped all the silicon away, leaving gaps again So silicon is out, i'd have to keep re-applying it year round. Is there any kind of super-duper 2pack/resin wood paint that can move with it? or is there another way? Hemp/rope + pine tar?

Wrap it in aluminium sheet?

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Originally posted by mookaloid
Wrap it in aluminium sheet?

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id say that nothing solid could resist the movement and not crack. Maybe oil it? Will protect the wood at least, if not the contents

Strip it bare then 3 good coats of Sadolin- stuff in the yellow tin, it breathes and moves with wood and shoulld last for donkeys years, no pun intended

I would have thought oil too, varnish at a push

Teak oil etc Ok for iroko and teak where the natural oilyness of wood makes it difficult for other finishes to stick but if out side it needs applying every year. Mahogany will take a stain and isn't so durable so I'd stick with sadolin- as used on high quality doors and window frames etc which are subject to similar changes in weather as your hoss box.
Bit wet for those jobs today though

You could do what the boating boys do with the teak deck joints, but not at all cheap. You need to clean out the joints with some form of scraper, back to fresh timber,there is some kind of primer that you should apply first, but cant remember what it's called, then gun in Sikaflex, (sp), and once that is dry clean of the excess. Not a quick fix, but done properly should last the life of the H/Box. HTH Ray

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Originally posted by Chippy
You could do what the boating boys do with the teak deck joints, but not at all cheap. You need to clean out the joints with some form of scraper, back to fresh timber,there is some kind of primer that you should apply first, but cant remember what it's called, then gun in Sikaflex, (sp), and once that is dry clean of the excess. Not a quick fix, but done properly should last the life of the H/Box. HTH Ray

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Are you trying to seal the wood, ie to stop it deteriorating in the weather, or ais the varying gaps int he t&g that are causing a problem?

If it's the former then I would go with the others who are suggesting oil or Sadolin, something that soaks into the surface rather than lies on it, like varnish.

If it's the latter then I would want to know more about the problem before making suggestions

John

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Originally posted by mr henderson

If it's the latter then I would want to know more about the problem before making suggestions

John

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Tongue and groove, unless it has really deep grooves and matching tongues (which is unlikely due to the material that would be lost during manufacture), isn't really suitable for creating a weatherproof structure as large as a horsebox. The expansion and contraction as the timber tries to establish moisture content equilibrium with the relative huidity is too great. T&G is ok for a panel the size of a door, but I presume we are talking about a much larger surface.

I studied this subject in depth many years ago when I was involved in guitar making, where it is vitally important to control moisture content.

I'll think about it some more, but at the moment I don't see an effectiveanswer to it.

John

Thanks for the info, John. I'm wondering whether it'd work if I put strips of wood on the T&G that attached to the upper section of wood, goes down over the T&G gap, but isn't attached to the lower tongue and groove, with a gap of a few mm so water can't go back up with capillary action. It'd mean you couldn't see the tongue and groove, but I could stain them to match the rest of the wood, and it would move with the wood when it expands/contracts...

That description may have made NO sense whatsoever ^

[Edited on 7/6/09 by Benzine]

Hi, in answer to your question, Sykaflex is a available from most marine chandlers, as is the primer. as I said its not a cheap option, but the flexability is quite huge, something like 100 percent flex, so 3mm gap sealed will remain watertight to 6mm, I have used it on boats, (very damp environment), and never had any problems with it.
Note to Mr Henderson, never knew they made guitars out of T & G, Cheers Ray

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Originally posted by Benzine
if I put strips of wood on the T&G that attached to the upper section of wood, goes down over the T&G gap, but isn't attached to the lower tongue and groove, with a gap of a few mm so water can't go back up with capillary action. It'd mean you couldn't see the tongue and groove, but I could stain them to match the rest of the wood, and it would move with the wood when it expands/contracts...

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Originally posted by trextr7monkey

You must be pretty attached to that horse taking all of this trouble......or is the horse some one elses toy which gets you garage time if it travels along in a snug dry box?

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