Ranger Rick
Gold Member
Ranger Rich, that is exactly what I have to do to the sill on the grade side. Why white oak, did you have that on site? I have the old house on site, but too close to the road for my liking to fix up. I can scavenge from it. Barn look great now.
From what I was told White Oak is naturally resistant to rot. I looked it up apparently White Oak has structures in the wood called tyloses in the pores of the wood that prevent moisture from getting into the wood. Since the sill is sitting on the ground or close to it you do not want it to rot away in your lifetime. I have gotten White oak from a local saw mill in our area. They do not have it all of the time and I had to order weeks ahead to get the size cut that I needed. Of course you could always look into using pressure treated wood but you may have a problem finding the size that you need for the sill and the posts to sit on. Ask at a full service lumber yard they might be able to get large treated timbers for you. Compare costs.
Rick