Rotten cedar boards, any way to protect them.

[Gino]

Crossposted to alt.home.repair and rec.woodworking. If this is a problem I won't do it again.

I have access to cedar boards full 1"x6" that sat too long and rotted in the middle. Run through the planer they have a beautiful lacy look. I love the way they look and they are still plenty strong on the edges. But because they have started to rot they absorb water like a sponge. I would like to use them as a garden fence but I doubt they would last long. Is there any reasonably priced UV sealer that might help these boards shed water instead of sponging it up. I have used them in the soffit of my garden shed where they remain dry and they look terrific just oiled.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Rot is rot and it will continue. You can coat it, you can make it look pretty, but you won't stop it unless you cut it out. The only question is if the labor is worth the efforts on rotted wood to prolong in a few more months, maybe a couple of years.

[George]

Well, not really. If the boards are installed vertically, it's doubtful they'll ever exceed the ~20% MC required for active fungal growth for any length of time. "Pecky" cedar was a staple out on the left coast. Second fence I put up at a house I owned - first went down in a helluva storm - was still there twenty-five years later when I paid a visit..

[Gino]

Would a splash of UV protected Thompson Water seal help protect them and maintain the color. I can always unscrew them a run them back through the planer in a year or two. I did this with another fence using old planer blades to just remove the grey and it worked pretty good and took very little time (except the staple removal). Made the old fence look like new. A few warped boards were a problem but most were great.

[George]

Vibrating them through your planer will shake out a lot of interior substance. My fence boards were bare, as they should be. I wouldn't waste my time with anything else, if it were me.