Warning: That 'solid' oak post in the Richmond job was rotted through the middle.

I was setting the final post on a picket fence last Tuesday, gave it a good whack with the maul, and the whole thing just split open like a rotten log, showing a hollow core full of carpenter ants, so I had to drive back to the yard, eat the cost on a new pressure-treated 4x4, and reset the whole corner by myself in the dark.

3 comments

3 Comments

flores.jana14d ago

Ugh, that's the worst... it's like the wood is lying to you until the very last second. I've gotten to the point where I drill a tiny pilot hole into the end grain of any "solid" post before I even load it on the truck, just to check. Saves so much time and rage, even if it looks a little paranoid. Finding that hollow core at the end of the day is a special kind of tired.

iris_green8414d ago

My buddy Dave wasted three hours on a "solid" oak beam before finding a rotten core, so @flores.jana, your pilot hole trick is genius.

julia2862d ago

Feel that deep in my soul. You get all set up, swing that maul with some real hope, and then it just explodes into a pile of bug dust. That drive back to the yard, knowing you're eating the cost and the daylight, is its own special kind of quiet rage. Doing the reset alone in the dark with your headlamp is the final insult.