Cypress density

[Yellabret]

i felled a suburban cypress tree about a year and 4 months ago, and milled it in January.  i am in Houston, and we had a warm winter.  i air dried it in a stack that was well stickered.   i put a 4.5" x7'x20" slab in my attic for about 3 months, this is being used as a seat for "the mother of all wedding benches" that i am making for my daughter.  it has dried well with almost no checking and a very minimal amount of cup.  the very center is now hovering around 16%, 1" deep is around 12%, probably all i can expect around here, and it is going to be an outside bench.

this wood just seems very light, and it dried quickly.  a few pieces have some small areas that rotted, this is not on the outside but rather on the milled surface of a slab. i am concerned as this is supposed to be such a good rot resistant outdoor use wood. the bulk of the wood is in good shape, and i have surgically removed the bad stuff.

1) this will be on a porch without direct exposure. i am planning on using several coats of Penofin marine oil for the finish.  am i correct in my thinking that once i have several coats of oil soaked into it that it will be protected from further rot?  i am planning on a few fresh coats on annual basis.

2) i have measured the density to be 27lbs/cf.  i read in various places that cypress is typically 29-31 lbs/cf.  should this be a concern?  or is this within an acceptable range?

david

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Without seeing photos, it's possible those small "rotted" places, are the beginnings of a Pecky virus. It looks exactly like rot. have you ever seen Pecky Cypress ?

[Yellabret]

have not seen it.  it "looks" fine, but is very very soft.  is this a bad thing?

[Fla._Deadheader]

 Look anything like this ??

 

Sometimes there will be just a little of this. Other times the log is riddled with the Pecky. No matter what, I would not worry about it. Maybe just pour a little in the bad place and slowly add until it is nearly level ?  I still wouldn't be concerned.

An oil finish might tend to bleed a little and mess up clothes of those sitting on it ??

[Ianab]

While our cypress is a different species it's not unusual to get patchy heart rot and bug damage starting in older trees that are starting to decline. The rest of the wood is OK if you cut out the damaged areas. Once it's dry the decay and bug resistance kick in again. But when it's still green there are various things that do attack it.

It's possible that your tree is the same, and in the early stages of decline. Was it removed because it was starting to look "poorly"?

But if you trim out the suspect bits, and use the rest, it should be fine.

Ian