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Water Stains on Rafters in Basement

When my husband and I bought our house it had been neglected for years by its previous owner. I am trying to remove water stains from the basement wood support beams because the kitchen sink, and bathtub leaked before and now there are horrible water stains. What should I use/do? Thanks!

Gabe Schram
Home Owner - Greenfield, Wisconsin
2007

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Hello Gabe,
It would depend how deep the water stain penetrates into the wood. How about power sanding the rafters until the stain is gone and then apply a stain (if necessary) to match the other rafters? Good Luck!

Mark Baker
Process Engineer - Syracuse, New York
2007

Paint will be the cheapest way to go. Time Vs: Money.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
2007

Those stains are really just various minerals and chemicals that have been introduced into the air spaces of the wood by contaminated water dripping from above (pine is VERY porous and is generally the wood of choice for home framing wood). What you have to do is try to dissolve the minerals etc and let them flow out of the wood fibers. You will probably never get all the discoloration out of ther wood since some minerals cause a chemical change in the wood. What you see is probably the tip of the iceberg. Outside of powerwashing (should that be an option) sealing and painting the wood is the best alternative since you have to do that after powerwashing anyhow to protect the wood.

Stephen Mann
- Palm Springs, California, USA
2007

These are floor joists located in a basement, or am I missing something? Apparently the homeowner wants to remove the stains the most economical way. When they go to sell the house someday the potential buyer won't freak out and ask a lot of questions about the stains, right? They will assume the floor above it is rotted, and has to be replaced, right? If you paint over the stain it will look pretty goofy unless you paint all the ceiling joists the same color as the patch job. I have an idea, use a oil based primer (stain blocker) and a few coats of red barn paint over the stain. The homeowner can tell the buyer, "oh, I just wanted to see what the color looked like and I didn't have any cardboard to make a swatch". OK, I'll say good night now.

Mark Baker
Process Engineer - Syracuse, New York
2007