Replies

1. 
   MarkH128 | Jun 21, 2003 05:17am | #1

   Wickes lumber sells this creosote substitute. Haven't used it, so can't say anything about it. Maybe you have a wickes Lumber around there, but the same type stuff should be available. I haven't checked for it at the local Wickes store. I suppose this stuff is available in the USA, but the article is from the UK. Maybe you could use some Jasco Termin-8. http://www.focusdiy.co.uk/press/conw_20030326.htm

2. 
   Dinosaur | Jun 21, 2003 05:46am | #2

   Actually, creosote has a much worse name than it deserves IMHO. Compared to CCA (the poison in 'pressure treated' lumber), it's a glass of milk and honey. Fortunately, CCA is being discontinued, here in Canada at least.

   Creosote is made from coal-tar oil; as such it's a hydrocarbon, one of the lower risk classes of chemicals you can find out there. If I were you, I'd request an MSDS from the maker of the brand available in your locality. Take a look at the info on the sheet; it's usually pretty comprehensive.

   As long as the creosoted members are not uphill from and quite close to a potable water source (surface well, lake, etc), contamination will be extremely localized and stay that way. Naturally, you don't want to knock over an open 45-gal. drum of the stuff and then expect to grow vegetables in the earth it soaked into. You also don't want to treat timbers with it that will be in direct contact range of animals or feed. But ground leaching should be relatively low and the stuff is a lot less toxic to begin with than what the PT industry has been pushing down our throats for the last 20-30 years. You could underlay the timbers in ground contact with 90# felt to inhibit leaching further--but remember what the felt is imbibed with: Another hydrocarbon.

   I build driveway-box retaining walls using creosoted hemlock 6x6's, and the stuff works quite well. Usually, I let the 6x6s air-dry until they're ready to soak up a couple of coats of creosote rollered on. I'll lay poly sheeting under the work area where I'm going to be painting to limit penetration of drips and spills. Two coats has kept timbers looking like the day I installed them for 8-10 years. The characteristic 'railway-track-smell' of the creosote will fade in a couple of weeks unless you treat the timbers in immersion baths for lengthy periods.

   If you really don't want to use creosote, there are rods available from Abatron (I think) which you insert into holes bored in the timbers, which are then plugged. The rods sublimate over time and need to be replaced every X-number of years. I don't remember off hand what the active chemical is. This is a product specifically aimed at log-house restoration and preservation. http://www.abatron.com is the web site; [email protected] is e-mail, I think.

   Dinosaur

   'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?