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So I'm back with more stuff on the sunroom painting.  I expect this to be over this weekend.  It's taking me away from The Dungeon and I need to get back down there! I was doing the prep on the front outside wall and I found an area where the wood on one of the columns was rotted.  You can see it here at the bottom and on the right side.

This kind of thing is like rust on old cars.  It's usually worse on the inside than it appears from the outside. The good thing about this is that I got some neat new tools to hack the rotted corner away.  As you know, you can never have too many tools.

I used a jamb saw to make a horizontal cut across the top.  My first cut was about 1 1/2 inches (maybe 35mm) deep.  I'm going to cut a "block" out so I can determine how deep the rot goes back. Then I made a vertical chisel cut.  The chisel went in very easily - this side is where the rot is. Chiselling the other side.

My chisel was quite sharp so it did well on this job.  However, I think it needs to be sharpened after this.  (Making a mental note).

After I removed this section, it was clear that the rot went back about another inch and a half, so I cut more out after this. Here's the other tool I used.  This thing is fantastic.  It's a hand jab/sawzall saw.  The blade folds into the handle... ...and it extends when you need it.

The Milwaukee people make a variety of blades to fit this thing.  It's fantastic.

This is at the top of my list for zombie apocalypse tools.  You can kill Z's with it AND it's a survival tool.  Brilliant. There were some hunks of wood I just couldn't reach with the saw or chisel.  The new jab saw was perfect for this job.

I'm trying to make the cut out as square as possible so I can fit a new wood block in to replace the rotted wood I cut out. Here it is mostly done.

This pillar is on a side of the house where there is a tree, so it stays damp on this corner for many days after it rains.

The rotted area is on the right side - it looks like a cave.  It went back about 4 inches (10 cm) or so.

My guess is that the caulk between the wood and the brick cracked, allowing water to penetrate from the bottom. Here's a better angle.  I'm going to fill that deep 'cave' with an expandable filler foam and then cut a new block to fit the rest of the cut-out area.