So much for 'treated' lumber

[dmccarty]

Wasn't long ago that you bought pt lumber without any designation, just "pt". I wonder where the non ground contact stuff will have any use at all. The whole industry changed after CCA was outlawed.

The PT lumber I have always seen/bought mentioned the rating. Finding ground contact PT in the box stores can be problematic. Having said that, I think the 4x4 and 6x6 posts were always ground contact but boards were usually not ground contact. I am lucky in that we have a local pressure treatment company that has been around for over 60 years. When I need PT wood for an important project, I go to the local pressure treatment company. Figure they have been around long enough to know how to do this right and I have never had a problem with their product.

The company used to do creosote but that ended decades ago. I have bought CCA from them until it was banned and then they moved to ACQ. I used some lumber from them for a "temporary" well house I built. The PT lumber was used as the sill plate sitting on the well's concrete pad. I can't remember if it was ground contact or not, but I suspect it was not. After 12ish years, I finally got rid of the "temporary" well house and save the wood I had used. The sill plate was in good condition even though it was kept wet all of the time. :shocked::thumbsup: Pretty sure that wood was ACQ.

In our city house, I used boards for a raised bed that were not ground contact from this company. Surprisingly they held up pretty well for 10-12 years. The edge of the boards touched the ground with some soil on the inside of the boards. They really should have rotted out but they did not. Or if they rotted out it was after we sold the house. They were CCA treatment through.

Later,
Dan

 

[EddieWalker]

With that much rot, I would try to figure out a way to use concrete instead of treated wood.

 

[PILOON]

In the old days a piece of tar paper was laid on top of each joist before the decking went down. The idea is still a good one although there are newer products you could use also. The material on top helps shed water and keeps the joist dryer. Do not wrap or enclose the whole joist, just the top edge.

I discovered that joist protection once when I repaired an 40 year old deck. (he had used tin strips.)
Since then whenever I built a deck I slit strips of roofing membrane and laid them over each joist B4 fastening decking.
That way a porch structure can be redecked many times as the joists never get wet and therefore don't rot out as water simply sheds to the side.

 

[PILOON]

Also there are different grades of treated wood.
Real pressure treated is thru-out, (sawing demonstrates it).
The cheaper grades are simply dunked in a vat while the wood is still green hence there is little or no absorption.

The higher grades are kiln dry wood and somehow vacuum is involved.

One chap I know had a clever idea.
He would pour about an inch or so of treatment fluid into a shallow bucket and dip all his cut length ends into that bucket thus 'end treating' every new cut.
With a minimal depth of treatment liquid the floor planks did not look too messy. (you can't ever really match factory treatment color)
Slopping it on with a brush simply makes a mess.

Also top grade decking, besides kiln dry, is often hemlock and not fir and I sometimes think even balsom.

Kinda like when they offered 'landscape' RR ties, they were often popular and rotted in no time.(but they were treated and green colored)
There still is nothing that beats genuine creosoted real RR ties for longevity. (now banned due to creosote)

 

[bcp]

One chap I know had a clever idea.
He would pour about an inch or so of treatment fluid into a shallow bucket and dip all his cut length ends into that bucket thus 'end treating' every new cut.

I use one of those long narrow trays (wallpaper?) so I can stand a bunch at once, leaning on something.

Bruce

 

[Mace Canute]

Anytime I put a post in the ground I take the time to apply extra wood treat by brush to it several times waiting for each application to soak in/dry out. Seems to help a great deal. A few years ago I had to replace a gate post that was over 20 years old; it originally was a salvaged fir power line crossarm. I dad done the same at the time it was put in the ground but by the time it was salvaged it had air dried for decades and was hard as nails so very little soaked in but still managed to get over 2 decades in the ground so acceptable for a free piece of wood.

The replacement post was larger than the crossarm and I had to do some trimming to get it to fit which I did on my mill with a sharp 3/4" HSS endmill running at top spindle speed. Worked like a charm!! It was very disappointing to see just how little penetration the factory applied wood treatment had. Again, I spent considerable time applying treat with a brush in an effort to extend the post's life. It should easily outlast me now so all is good.

 

[Egon]

Some people use a bluestone (copper sulphate) water mixture to stand fence posts in. Works well.