Sealing End-grain And Ground-contact Points

karma_carpentry

I just poured a pad and set in some stair stringers for an entry platform, and laying the cut ends of the stringers on the pad, I got to thinking about the fact that even PT lumber can fail due to rot in this situation.

I did have good drainage there, but still it's touching the rising damp of the concrete directly. I've recently seen PT stringers rot out even standing on an 8" bottom step of masonry.

So... does anyone ever seal the ground contact points of their framing? With a primer/sealer or what? I was thinking of using RedGard for it, since it seals into a thick layer. It's even approved for use as a shower pan liner, by plumbing code.

Anyway, I ended up laying those stringers on some 1/2" galvanized washers adhered in place with gorilla glue.

Another thought - when you cut a roof, while it's still on the ground, do you think it might pay to end-seal the rafters? Can't tell you how many fascia boards fall off around here due to the ends of the rafters rotting away.

Home Pro

If the ends of your rafters are rotting away.... I'd say you've got other problems !

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