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Garden gate "leaking sap"?

James.berry1989James.berry1989 Posts: 12
in Garden design
I recently have had a new fence and gate installed my a local tradesman, both using treated wood apparently. The fence looks great, but the gate looks like the attached photos. As you can see, it looks awful, with the white marks on it. To the touch, it's not sticky, but more chalky in texture i'd say. I spoke with the company that fit it, and he said it's sap that the rain has brought out of the wood. I am in no way an expert, but this sounds crazy to me. Sap is sticky, this is not, and my fence doesn't have the same issue. 

Does anyone know what this might actually be, or is he right?
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  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    If it’s not sticky, it’s not sap, I would say it’s mould. Brush it off with a wire, gently. You could spray with a watered down bleach wash which will kill it. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • James.berry1989James.berry1989 Posts: 12
    Thanks for your comment, Lyn. As far as the fact it's a brand new fence goes, I'd expect this not to happen. If it is mould, I seems that it's not been treated properly. 
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    edited February 2019
    Mould spores will grip to anything, any age. Bleach them off. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • James.berry1989James.berry1989 Posts: 12
    That sounds like good advice. I'll give that a go. Thanks.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    No problem. Try it and see, give it a brush off first, then spray. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    I don't think it's mould. I've got a fence post that's doing this at the moment and it seems to be sap mixed in with the treatment chemicals. I blasted it off with the pressure washer and that cleaned it up nicely. Sap tends to be more solid in colder weather so you could try heating it up and see if it turns sticky.

    My theory is that timber yards are dealing with a huge glut of larch at the moment from all the forestry that's been cleared to prevent the larch disease spreading and they're chucking the timber out before it's dried properly. The last lot of decking and fencing I had was really warped and quite a bit had sap running.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Nothing to worry about. Just clean it off as the others have said.
    I've had it on odd pieces of timber, but it hasn't caused a problem long term  :)
     
    I've not had it badly warped though, w.edges. Perhaps your lot should have been returned. I don't mind fencing timber being a bit 'off', but if it's really bad, it's not really fit for purpose.  :/
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Fairygirl said:
    Nothing to worry about. Just clean it off as the others have said.
    I've had it on odd pieces of timber, but it hasn't caused a problem long term  :)
     
    I've not had it badly warped though, w.edges. Perhaps your lot should have been returned. I don't mind fencing timber being a bit 'off', but if it's really bad, it's not really fit for purpose.  :/
    I should have sent them back but didn't have the time to wait another weekend to get the job done. I was fitting the decking in long lengths so I screwed the one end down and had enough leverage to bend it back into shape with plywood spacers to maintain the gap. End to end the worst one was bowed out by a good 30mm over the 4800mm length. They've straightened up fine after drying out though. The good summer last year helped a lot.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    My father often used to moan about "wood so green if you stuck it in the ground it would sprout" I am no expert but it seems so much timber is "kiln dried" and not properly seasoned before it is sold. If you don't want to use bleach you could use something like Mould Magic or Patio Magic they are  the same active ingredient & will clean it up without taint.
    AB Still learning

  • treehugger80treehugger80 Posts: 1,923
    it looks like the pressure treatment is seeping back out, it happens sometimes, brush it off, it'll be fine.
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