Attic Wood Leaking Sap

Use a coarse plastic sponge to scrape the oozed resinous compounds and go over the surface of the wood with a clean towel.

Attic wood leaking sap.

Sap can caused a problem on decks and in houses where wood beams are used for support. These materials slow the leakage by clogging the wood grain pores but will not stop it completely. Sfogarty sean fogarty february 25 2016 3 40am 6. There s a couple support boards for the roof in my attic that have sap dripping out of them.

Attic ambering refers to wooden beams in the attic having sap leak out. When it is wet it is sticky and can rub off on clothing or attract dust and dirt. You should be able to determine the adequacy of the attic ventilation by direct observation of the ventilation system. We see more of this sap staining when the wood used for framing was not kiln dried before construction.

For a start you need to clean all the sap which is gradually crystallizing on the top of the affected wood. Sand the wood surface with fine 220 grit sandpaper to smooth the grain and remove any crystallized sap. It s sap crystals that have been extruded from the wood due to high attic temperatures. Treat the knot areas with extra coats of the finishing material.

Imgp3939 by r0ckstarr on flickr. Similarly when a tree is damaged the sap can bleed out. Much of the wood produced for framing lumber has pitch pockets or areas of crystalized resin. Hopefully not on your hands as you steady your walk through the attic.

The sap when in live trees carries nutrients throughout the tree that helps to keep it alive. When it dries it hardens and becomes difficult to remove creating unsightly spots or bumps in the wood surface. To prevent sap from leaking out of deck boards it needs to be finished with paint stain or deck waterproofing. While there are complex chemical components found in tree sap it s easy to compare sap to blood.

Turpentine works perfect for this purpose and it will not damage the quality of the wood. It cooks out in the heat and eventually crystallizes. Some wood has an abundance of sap in it. Use a handheld oscillating fitted with.

Sap on boards can be a problem. The sap feels pretty solid to the touch and not really sticky.