I am searching to fire proof the logs of my shelter in a simple and cheap way, does anyone has any sujestion or tricks ?

-- Nasseri (ibmcc@colba.net), January 11, 2000

Answers

Not proof, but fire retardant. Before the advent of Nomex suits in car racing the drivers used to make a saturated soultion (very hot water add borax until no more can be disolved) of Borax and soak their clothes in that and then let them drip dry. The problem of course is that as the water evaporates much of the borax would recrystalize and flake off. Enough would stay inside the fabric to retard flames though. Not much would soak into the wood, but this is the cheapest and it would help a bit.

The best solution is a fireproofing paint. Various types have been developed, but whether they are now available on the mass market, I don't know. Contact several paint manufacturers to see if anybody is marketing the type that was invented about 8 years ago, it was reported in the Wall Street Journal and works great, they didn't mention if any patent arrangements had been made with manufacturers. Also contact several insurance companies and see what they recommend for fireproofing paint.

The paint in the WSJ was an interior paint, if it is marketed now, I would hope that they could come up with an exterior one too.

-- Ken Seger (kenseger@earthlink.net), January 12, 2000.

If you deny the wood access to oxygen (in the air) it will not burn.

How about a thick coat of stucco (or plaster or gunite) as a protective layer. Stucco no doubt has a known burn through rate, which could be lengthened by putting fire-retardant additives in the stucco mix.

Never seen it done, but it's worth looking into.

-- snooze button (alarmclock_2000@yahoo.com), January 12, 2000.