wood protectant

[poorboy]

Getting ready to refloor a bridge that would connect our farm to another piece of property my dad just bought. Anyway, going to refloor with whiteoak 3x6s because of expense and availability. My question is I would like to know what I can apply to the floor to slow down decomposition of the wood. It's about 125'ft long and 14' wide.

 

[EddieW]

I have used Creosote or carbolin oil to treat wood in the past. You can paint them on. Both seem to work okay but I never drove on them wet after I did it. They are both some kind of oil derivative so I suspect they would get pretty slick. Maybe somebody else knows something better. Most of the wood deck coatings don't last very well.

 

[WillingtonPizza]

I use foundation sealer and driveway sealer, works excellent, you may have to reaply where you drive.

 

[GlennT]

I'm going to suggest something that probably will raise a storm of protest, but it has worked for me. I have a 16 foot flatbed trailer with a plank bed that sits outside. The planks started to deteriorate and I tried several commercial preservatives and they didn't seem to do anything at all. Sure, at first they looked good, but after a few weeks it didn't seem like there was anything there at all. Following the advice of a local welder (a friend and man of great genius) I mixed waste oil (10-30 W) with a bit of diesel fuel and applied two coats. I did this over a year ago and this coating has held up just fine. I sure wouldn't do this when planks were in place on the bridge and risk spilling oil into the water. Also, my trailer planks were rough so they didn't become slick; I suspect that smooth finished planks might be slippery. By the way, I've been "chewed out" by an acquaintance who says that motor oil is too toxic to mess with. I guess you'll have to make up your own mind about this.

 

[LarryT]

In my opinion, the best solution is to use pressure treated lumber. If you can't buy treated lumber in the size you need, I've taken my own lumber to a treating facility and they've pressure treated it for me for a reasonable price. This particular place was in Maryland but I suspect there are "treaters" in every state.

Larry...

 

[cowboydoc]

Glenn,
I agree with I do the same thing. My grandpa used to always fills 55 gallon drums with used oil and leave posts in it that we were going to use for fences for a couple weeks. There are posts that are 30 and 40 years old that we've pulled that show no signs of rot at all and still had the oil on them. The wood is going to be dryer than the soil so I can't see that too much of the oil would go into the soil anyway.

 

[roysallis]

My brother-in-law uses diesel fuel to treat lumber for waterproofing and it works well. He just paints it on but if you have 125' by 14' you may want to put in in a pump sprayer and spray it on before you install the planks. Just try not to get the diesel in the water. There may be a little diesel smell when you cross the bridge but you should not mind that.

 

[Henry]

You've got a pretty sizable bridge to treat, so I'd say spray it with something oil-based (e.g waste oil). For something so large, the cost of a commercial preservative like Thompsons would be pretty darned $$$. Try a paving contractor that has one of those hot-tar-oil spraying rigs... that might be cost effective too.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I too have a bridge that needs re-decking. I am told that Creosote is no longer legal to use here in Maine. Also, our Dept. of Environmental Protection takes a dim view of any oil based material around a stream or brook--including pressure treated lumber. Anyone know of any organic wood perservatives?

 

[Rowski]

I agree with the oil treatment. People around here use it on sheds, barns and even some log camps. I would thinks by using comman sense, one would not get little if any on the ground or in the water.

Derek