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HighTide · Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 11:06 am Post subject: Fuzzy Dock Posts

For years 2 of my dock posts have been getting a little shaggy, almost looks like hair. The other posts are OK, but my neighbor has a similar problem. The posts are 12X12 and go into the canal water and are made of treated wood. Every time I wash the dock, the fuzz gets all over the boat and I have to rinse it too.

What causes it and what prevents it from continuing?

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HighTide

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If changes in barometric pressure cause your joints to hurt, do pilots and divers have a lot of joint pain?

Drake · Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 12:25 pm Post subject: Fuzzy Posts

Are you washing it with a power washer? if you are it looks like your using too high PSI tip

Tyler · Site Admin Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 12865

The folks house has the same problem and no power washing is going on.
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reallifetexan · Pony Mullet Joined: 08 Jun 2013 Posts: 80

This is what an expert I know said when I emailed him the picture:

"Very familiar. I have lots of literature on it, short version is that it is called

reallifetexan · Pony Mullet Joined: 08 Jun 2013 Posts: 80

Talk about building suspense. Let's try this again...

This is what an expert said when I sent him the picture:

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Very familiar. I have lots of literature on it, short version is that it is called "horse hair rotor technically tracheid separation or Salt Kill. Although the lay term includes the word rot, it really isn't rot in a conventional sense of the word. It is a phenomena, it is neither predictable nor preventable...and importantly, there it no fix once the pilings are installed. You can slow it, but it is a causation that is particular to that piece of wood. Attached is a document that was produced by the chemist of one of the big 3 treating companies.
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I'll send the PDF to Tyler that this guy sent me. Wish the prognosis was more positive, but apparently it's not.

And now for a plug to pay back the expert for his opinion:
The expert works at Building Products Plus Co in Houston, 1-800-460-8627. I have only purchased bulkhead liner material from them so far, as they have the good stuff and not the stuff that rots away in a few years, but I hopefully will be a customer of theirs in the future as they sell a vinyl coated wood pylon that resists insects, rot, etc., including that described above, and if I am ever able to build a house down at the coast, I will plan on using these. I am not affiliated with them, I just like spreading the word when I run into good people at good businesses who seem to me to have a good product. Check them out at www.buildingproductsplus.com. End of plug.

Tyler · Site Admin Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 12865

fishinglady · Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 2:37 pm Post subject:

Yep, "salt rot". I've seen it on many posts. I have noticed that the posts that seem to get it first and worst are those that are exposed the most to the sun, while those posts more underneath an upper deck and more shaded seem to be not so susceptible to the rot. Has anyone else noticed this?

HighTide · Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 2:41 pm Post subject:

Oh hell! No fix for it, huh? They sell some deck finish stuff that supposedly will fill cracks up to 1/4" wide. I wonder if that would help.
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HighTide

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If changes in barometric pressure cause your joints to hurt, do pilots and divers have a lot of joint pain?

FishLady · Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2013 4:57 pm Post subject:

Wow, I'll tell you there isn't any subject on here that someone out there doesn't know the answer for. I learn sooo much....you'd think someday I might be smart.
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FishLady

Blackhat · Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 7:05 pm Post subject:

I saw that on a channel marker close to Baffin today and wondered what it was. Thanks for the info

manuel9622 · Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 7:13 pm Post subject:

We have some cedar posts down at the cabin and it has happened to them and that's some hard wood, no pun intended. But those cedar posts have out lasted any pressure treated post we have out there. I have also noticed a lot of the canal docks on the island don't slip PVC pipe over the post. If you put PVC pipe higher than the water line and water never gets over the top that the post will last a lot longer. I don't know where my DAD got that info but we have been doing that since I was a kid, 30 plus years, and the post with PVC will out last all other posts. I guess it keeps barnacles from growing on them. IDK JMO from past experience.
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kdub59 · Joined: 17 Nov 2013 Posts: 4

Some experts in this field agree with your dad's technique. Here is a very simple article, with pictures, that explains exactly what your dad taught you when you were a kid. We are considering this technique in the spring when we build our dock.

http://www.deckmagazine.com/foundation/building-a-stationary-dock.aspx

Hope this helps you out.

Kdub59

cdhknives · Flour Bluffian in training Joined: 03 Aug 2012 Posts: 297

First off, the PVC sleeve causes a patch of dead, oxygen deprived water to develop inside. All the living critters that may damage them, from worms to barnacles to rot microorganisms, will not live there any longer.

IMO the fuzzy poles have a very limited effect. Mine seem plenty hard beneath, and do not seem to be progressing at a significant rate over the last 12 years. I quit worrying about it. In our environment, pretty much everything has a short lifespan, so I just expect to replace things like pilings every 20 odd years.
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Why is it that these days sales people seem to be as honest as I am knowledgeable?