Bondo Rotted Wood Restorer, 8 fl oz., Penetrates into Spongy, Dry-rotted Wood Fibers Creating a Solid Surface, Dries clear and tack free, Water Resistant, Stainable and paintable (20131)

I used this material to repair dry rotted wood around the exterior refrigerator opening of my travel trailer. The product worked exceptionally well.Thanks to the RV manufacturing crew in Elkhart, Indiana who failed to use a putty or caulk to seal the exterior plastic weather frame around my refrigerator, water continually leaked in around the frame and rotted the wooden lower half of the exterior box of my refrigerator. Discovered years later. What a mess.After days of work to remove the soft rot and weeks to allow for drying of the remaining wetted wood, I used this product to treat and seal the wood up. It worked well. It hardened the formerly wet but solid remaining wood. Like, rock hard solid. Provided a shiny coat. To replace the missing soft wood removed on the frame, I used regular Bondo wood filler. Sanded it, then sealed the repaired areas with a tube of waterproofing 100% silicone caulk, and caulked the plastic weather frame (unlike the crew who built my RV who skipped over that important detail, not to mention puncturing the weather seal near the refrigerator with unsealed screws... so much for Made in the USA American craftsmanship on this job, that's the kind of stuff that damages our reputation).Strong chemical odor when wet, would not want to use this material in an enclosed air space without a respirator. Highly flammable when wet. No open flames nearby with this stuff. Since an RV has a gas refrigerator with a pilot light, and has electrical wiring on top of that (not to mention the water heater was below the refrigerator), all propane lines need to be depressurized with DC and AC electrical turned off in that area to avoid any static sparking mishaps. Put the Dremmel away. I kept a fire extinguisher nearby just in case something went wrong. All my work was done in an outdoor setting.Some drops of the product landed on the RV bumper and dried (it's as thin as alcohol). Shiny, clear, and cannot be removed. Be careful of it splashing or dripping on other materials. Wear old clothes that don't carry static electricity.So my recommendation on this product as a rotted wood hardener is strong. It works. Glad my high-skilled carpenter neighbor recommended it. When used with regular Bondo wood filler, it solved my RV refrigerator frame box rot problem.

This product works as advertised. I used it on two different occasions and both times it hardened the formally wet wood so that they could be restored.

Used this on a RV water leak on a Lance camper overhang, right under the water-heater. After stripping away the paper which revealed a delaminated plywood area. I took away the 1st layer which left a decent wood area to treat.The Bondo was thin like a solvent, penetrated the soft wood and hardened into resin/wood surface. It didn't bond the separated plywood together. I used construction cement to do that. 1st time user, I should have poured out small amounts in another dish. I used a 1" brush which hardened and had to be tossed. After the 1st coat and the next morning I noticed the Bondo restorer started to turn. I used up the rest not wanting it to thicken up on me. My can was good and the solvent/resin easy to work with. I went through 2 brushes. My end results were good and I was able to fix the area with having to cut out and replace the wood. It's a little spendy -*

This stuff really works well. It absorbs into the wood and wood that was previously powdery or flossy gets hard as a rock. I also tried some stuff from Menards that uses a different approach of coating the wood instead of soaking in and making it solid from the inside out. I'd say only use this product if it is something mission critical like around a window or some decorative feature of your house that is hard to replace. Also if you plan on sanding that area after you use a wood restoration product then go with this one. If it's just some fascia that you you need to paint over then get a lower cost alternative because this stuff is probably a premium overkill product. After a year of exposure I haven't seen a difference in the results between this product and a lower cost alternative. My feeling is over 10 years this one will probably hold up better and prevent hassles down the road as it can handle some light sanding while a product that only coats the surface won't.

I had a small section of deck boards that were showing signs of rot. The restorer sealed the wood well.