We once wrote about rust being evil. Our Maintenance guys have a different view. For them wood rot and rust represent job security.
The entrance gates and fences are undergoing rust removal and painting. The Manta and Cabrillo Gates have been completed. Mariner and Garibaldi should be completed before this article is printed. The Bluff fence will be painted this summer. The Bluff fence, located so close to the ocean, has the most rust damage requiring considerable grinding and preparation prior to painting. A couple of the posts on this fence are beyond repair and will be replaced.
Wood rot gets our street sign posts, coach light posts, log railings, Garden Home benches, and Sea Terrance II mail boxes. This month we have replaced or repaired a street sign on Dasya, coach light posts on Brisbane and Hobart, log railing posts on Garibaldi, benches on Bluehill and Atlantic, and mail boxes on Via Del Cielo.
Replacing coach light and mail box posts involves building and painting the structures in our shop and installing the electrical fittings for the light posts. At the site new cement footings are poured with brackets to mount the posts above grade level. Mounting the posts above grade level will reduce the effects of wood rot.
The large log posts supporting some of our stairways and railings are repaired with a unique process that makes them stronger and more resistant to rot than the original post. This process involves first cleaning out all the rot and then pouring a penetrating epoxy sealant inside the hollow log. After the sealant has cured/dried for a month we fill the log with an epoxy resin mixed with fine sawdust. This needs a couple of more weeks to cure and then the log is capped with epoxy filler. After two or so more weeks to cure, the final step is to paint.
— Jack Christiansen
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