A wood from the Philippines:
Q.
We built a bar for a restaurant - lauan ribs,lauan ply and
bending ply, p-lam interior, with foam padded vinyl
exterior. The problem is that the owners are saying it
smells like someone threw-up on it. The bar has been in
place since Apr. The odor has been narrowed down to the
lauan. Any thoughts?

A.
The odor is caused by anaerobic bacteria that were in the
living tree or that developed because the logs were stored
in stagnant water. It is a well known phenomenon. The
bacteria create fatty acids while they are alive (they are
dead now) and then these acids turn rancid. With
moisture, the smell returns. There is no cure other than
replacement. Do you want more detailed information
about this or is this enough? I could talk about this for an
hour or more!

Professor Gene Wengert is Extension Specialist in Wood
Processing at the Department of Forestry, University of
Wisconsin-Madison.