J-B Weld 40001 Wood Restore Liquid Hardener - 16 oz., Original Version

This product is extremely handy when you have storm damage in your attic. It's also handy for wooden window sills or dormers, where cooling water has caused severe softening. This stuff penetrates deep into softened damaged wood and makes it Rock Solid again. That allows you to use filler and waterproofing materials rather than rip out all of the wood and start over.

I wasn't convinced this could do the job, but I was happily surprised. Worked great on the wood rot on my railing. It was a two by four, and it had rotted out because of what must have been a split in the wood and a hard working carpenter bee. It made the wood hard enough, with several coats, so that it would accommodate these various wood screws (see pic). I think it created a great base for the wood putty as well. Remember, the first few coats will take longer to penetrate and dry, after that, it goes pretty fast. Took eight coats, but it did the job. Also, a little goes a long way. I almost have a full bottle left. Should be sufficient for any project. It's a buy.

This stuff worked well to toughen-up a section of rotted wood on my back deck. Area was about 4 feet long, irregular shape and about 4 inches wide and maybe 3/4 inch deep in spots. I chipped away flaky wood and then carefully poured two bottles of the filler along the "wound" over two days. Waited to make sure it sunk in and got " shiny" as the can instructed. It's not magic, but it does make the wood stronger. I then filled in the holes/depressions with a bondo-like product and trowel and painted over that with a tan outdoor paint (low gloss) that kind of matched the natural wood color of the deck. So far (three months) it is holding up well. If you don't stare at the patch it would pass for the original plank. Good product. (Update: After 6 months (over a heavy winter) the epoxy filler I put over the JB Weld separated. More water leaked in so the rot was deeper (maybe 1.5 inches) in a two foot stretch that I had poured the JB Weld in. I still think the Weld was a good product, just asking too much for it to fill a badly rotted section. I'm going to have to replace the board.)

Had an old set of windows in a very old house. House not worth all new windows due to other problems. Sills were rotted and water would just go down the cracks and fester. Wood was punky or soft and wouldn't keep any paint. Used a similar (but two part) epoxy product in Alaska before and it worked great. Thought I'd try this one part product. I will never go back to a two part system. This product penetrated the compromised wood quite deep down and solidified it. The next day I was able to putty the cracks and low spots and the putty stayed in place tightly. When using an electric dual action sander the putty did not loosen at all. After painting you couldn't tell they were ever damaged. CAUTIONS: Wait till the wood is completely dry. Remove any loose chunks and dust. I used light pressure with a wire brush and vacuumed the debris. In poor weather tarp the area and use an electric hair dryer or heat gun to dry surface quickly. Put putty on after this product, not before. USE GLOVES. Some people could be allergic to uncured product. Also use safety glasses if you are using air to blow out the debris. I prefer to vacuum the debris up instead of blowing them away. Also if the area below the window is one you don't want to leave a permanent unsightly stain on shield the area from drips. Don't pour on thick, often one wet coat will do it. A brush is recommended to get deep penetration into the cracks. One bottle will usually take care of two 36" inch sills or several smaller patches. If in doubt, buy two. If you don't have enough to completely fix a bad spot don't use it at all until you have enough product. Otherwise you will semi-seal up the surface and the new product will not penetrate the surface. I left the patches to dry overnight but if the surface is hard and not tacky after 2-3 hours you could lightly sand if needed and putty could be applied. Don't use heat to accelerate the drying process in the first hour or the penetration will not be as deep. A hair dryer will speed up the process though if the wood was good and dry before treating it with the j-b weld product. Acetone will clean up any dripping but also could affect the finish of the surface you are trying to clean, so the best technique is to mask as needed and watch for drips for the first 5 or 10 minutes. A throw away brush is what I recommend. After trying to clean up a brush I used with this stuff I spent more on acetone than the cost of the brush, let alone the time. Have fun and be prepared to be amazed.

So this was a shot in the dark purchase. I had a small portion of my RV slide floor getting weak and brittle from a previous leak. I was not ready to remove the floor yet so I used this product as a hope of extending the repair. I purchased a meat injection plunger and injected this product where all of the softness was. To my absolute amazement, this stuff made it hard as a rock. The floor is so solid that I don't even have the repair scheduled to be done. This stuff is very impressive and was ready to use unlike other on the market.

This stuff is great for treating rot or using as a precoat on pressurized wood. Pressurized wood does not hold paint well. If you use the wood restorer on the wood prior to painting, the paint will adhere and the wood won't expand and contract due to moisture and humidity. I prefer to paint my pressurized wood as deck stains are a waste of money. They don't last. Paint does.

After cleaning old wood, this is the trick for like new wood. The strength of it is J-B weld, and easy to use. Just make sure you have all the prep done before you get to using it, it does dry quick.

I bought this wood restorer because I found a joist under by wooden deck has some major rotted places. I slid a "sister joist" in place beside the deteriorating joist to take on the support, but left the old joist in place due to the hassle of trying to remove it. I used the J-B Weld Wood Restore on the bad spots of the weakened beam. The product is a fairly thickened, whiteish, liquid that you paint on with a brush. I put it on with a paint brush, and used two coats, letting it dry in between. Honestly, I'm not sure if it will "strengthen" any wood rot, but, it did seem to soak in, and, it seemed more like a "hardened semi plastic" paint than anything else. It seems like it would stop any water penetration where it is used, which is what happened in my case, due to water sitting and soaking into the joist timber over a thirty plus year lifetime of the deck. I do recommend the product, but not as a "rotted wood restorer", but as a semi plastic, wood treatment, with a glossy, clear finish that should repel any further water soaking into your deck wood.

this works great.

This worked like magic. I used it on the somewhat rotten wood then filled it with putty and painted the wood. It saved the fence and saved a lot of money.

Worked great on my barn door. Really happy with the results.

Had some rotten wood on a railing and didn't want to have to replace it. Used this and it hardened wonderfully. Then filled with 2 part wood epoxy. Worked great

i am very disappointed in this item. it does not dry hard and does not sink into the wood at all. it is absolutely useless for the purpose advertised. amazon does not accept returns on this as it is a 'hazardous' item. so i am out a substantial amount of money.