Foxiness

Also called: foxy, incipient decay

Foxiness is a reddish or yellowish brown stain that appears in a piece of timber's grain when fungal decay is just beginning, before the wood has softened or lost strength.

What causes it

The stain marks the earliest stage of fungal attack, known as incipient decay. At this stage the decay mainly shows up as discoloration, and the wood's strength may not yet be significantly reduced. Because it is still early, prevention matters more than cure: with structural timber the safest course is to stop decay before it starts, and to treat any incipient decay found with remedial measures rather than wait for it to progress.

Timbers prone to it

Hasluck, in 1907, described one timber as subject to cup shakes, splits that open up following the curve of a growth ring, and to incipient decay that turns it brown and, in his word, mothery, meaning soft and spongy to the touch; the same timber takes glue well but tends to split when nails are driven into it. A different timber turns foxy if it is not seasoned thoroughly, meaning dried down to a stable moisture content before use, and does not stand up well to outdoor exposure. Cut along its radial section, a face sawn along a radius from the log's centre out to the bark, it shows a warm golden yellow with a red-brown silver grain, a rippled fleck pattern that catches the light, and for that reason it is prized for inlay and cabinet work despite its poor weathering.