Alternatives to pressure treated lumber
jhartje
| Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on
Anyone know of any alternatives, code approved is best of course, to typical pressure treated lumber?
Jeremy
Replies
For what? And where (fill out your profile, it helps get you the answer that is correct for where you are located)?
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Edited 10/27/2006 12:54 pm ET by xxPaulCPxx
Clear allheart redwood.Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood
Western Red Cedar has very good rot resistant properties if you get the old dark stuff. Nowhere near as strong as DFir for structural elements, but usable with care.
You can do a lot with concrete to get your framing up out of the ground, too. That will help reduce the need for pressure treated materials.
Try this:
http://www.timbersil.com/
Your link goes to an unbuilt website. :-(
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Timber Treatment Technologies TimbersilPressure-treated lumber without the poison| November 2005
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View ImageNoncorrosive, fire-retardant, structurally sound yet lighter than untreated wood, and resistant to mold, mildew, termites and rot—pressure-treated wood is perfect for outdoor projects like swing sets and decks. But until TimberSIL came along this year, the lumber hasn't been so human-friendly. In 2002 the Environmental Protection Agency started phasing out the longtime standard additive, green chromated copper arsenate, for residential use because it leached arsenic into the ground. Its replacement, alkaline copper quaternary, was less toxic but had a bad habit of eating away at metal fasteners, like nails.
TimberSIL employs sodium silicate, a mixture of sand and soda ash used since the 1800s in detergents and as an egg preservative. Lumber soaks in it under pressure, then bakes until an insoluble matrix of amorphous glass hardens throughout the wood. No amount of rain or wear will remove it—bugs can look, but they can't touch. $4.50 per 8-foot 2x4
I bet that stuff will dull blades in no time.
Yup, they use it on egg shells, and ya know how dull they are. )G(
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Shooting rubber bands at the Moon
i've never used it. was just trying to provide some info for the OP.
However, they had "problems". Never heard exactly what and apparently out of business.
that website certianly seemed to be out of business.
Thanks for that. Now I am curious, time to Google it.Are they really out of business like another poster claimed? The dulling of blades was my first thought, too. However, if it works as advertised, it could be worth a few blades to skip all the poison and corrosion.I notice that they claim resistance to insects, but say nothing about fungal attack, which is the more universal need in treated lumber. For wood that stays dry in service, borates will protect against bugs and mold. If the silicate treatment only outwits insects, they may not have had a real market. Borated wood has to be cheaper to make than a product that must be baked after infusion.Bill edit: Apparently it resists bacterial and fungal attack, too. Here is a link: http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2006/apr/tech/mf_wood.html
Definitely more $ than ACQ, but the savings on fasteners could compensate for some of that. I am curious to handle the stuff. The physical properties must be different if it has amorphous glass all through it.
Edited 10/30/2006 12:50 am by BillBrennen
It sounds good. But, I don't know for sure. The first site is one I saw long ago and saved for 'future' ref. The second was from a Popular Mech article I found on Google.
Didn't I hear rumors that all the Timbersil wood (borate treated, rather than CCA or ACQ), ended up getting sold as normal lumber when it couldn't pass the required tests or the seller got cold feet?
I know I read it somewhere, I'll have to look at JLC for that.zak
"When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone." --John Ruskin
"so it goes"
With the new formula for ACQ as opposed to the old arsenic based compound, why are you shying away from 'treated'?
because it causes more skin reactions in users than the safe old CCA and because it rots out metal fasteners unless they are stainless steel. ACQ is terrible stuff!
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
If it's pressure treated to allow contact with concrete, simply apply ice and water to standard lumber. We do this with plates on a regular basis.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
Maxituf 100% recycled plastic lumber has many normal dimensions available and a 50 year warranty. Haven't used it myself yet, but would like to. Greendepotinc.com carries it out here, and the company's web is at http://www.rescoplastics.com - hope it helps someone.
Depending on the application, there are a number of natural wood species which resist rot with no further treatment. Hemlock is one; the cedars (both white & red) are two more. These are the ones commonly available in my area so they are what I use when rot is an issue.
Another option would be to use standard SPF framing lumber but to treat it on-site with creosote, an old but very effective preservative forgotten by many since the advent of PT.
Creosote is basically coal-tar oil. It must not be used close by a potable water supply, but it is safe enough in non-animal contact applications. It does not affect fasteners, is no more irritating to skin than ordinary petroleum products, leaches out into the soil very slowly if at all (it evaporates more than anything else), and it's an organic (as opposed to heavy-metal) rot inhibitor which leaves no unresolved environmental issues: we know what they are because it's been in use for over a hundred years.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....