Bad pressure treated wood?

[perryhd]

This past Tuesday my oldest grandson was going to help me replace a few deck boards on my deck. When we got the boards up we found I also had issues with two joist so we took up about twelve more boards to get to the joist. Then we discovered the two beams supporting the joist were bad. Also two of the 4x4s supporting the beams were bad. We were able to get most of it demoed and loaded in my truck before my grandson had to leave. I have worked on it off and on this week and have the 4x4 supports and beams replaced. Hopefully we will get the new joist in and the decking down tomorrow. The deck is nine years old and should have held up longer than it did. The lumber that was bad looked fair on the outside but was rotten in the center. I suspect I got some treated wood that was not left in the pressure cooker long enough. Ether that or the chemicals they are using now don't last like the old stuff. I have gotten to old for that kind of work.

 

[redlevel]

It happens. I had a batch of pressure treated 5 inch fence posts rot at ground level after about three years. About 15 of them on just one cross fenced line, so I know they were from the same batch. Expensive to replace, and aggravating.

 

[ameridaddy]

It happens. I had four line posts in my split rail fence rot out at the soil line and fall over this past winter. They were only a little more than two years old. OTOH, the joists and posts in my deck are 27 years old and doing OK (knock on wood). My deck boards on the same deck didn't rot at 21 years old, but checked so badly I replaced them to prevent someone from getting nasty splinters.
One thing I've seen and paid careful attention to is cut ends on both treated boards and untreated boards. Moisture goes into boards through end grain, so I always treat the cut ends of pressure treated wood with a copper solution, whose name escapes me at the moment. For non-pressure treated wood, I prime the boards heavily on the cut end.

 

[Golddollar]

I had a side door landing and steps made of pressure treated wood fall apart at around 15 years. It became an accident waiting to happen. Luckily my boss at work had a bunch of bricks left over from a project at his house. I loaded up my car and took the bricks home (a story in itself). My cousin-in-law is a bricklayer and I paid him (well since I got the bricks for free) to build a brand new set of brick steps. That took care of the problem at least until I sold the house.

 

[jlrhiner]

Same problem with my new deck.

Whats happened is the solution used to treat the wood was changed a few years ago to make it more environmentally friendly.

 

[rwsmith]

Yeah, like......

Same problem with my new deck.

Whats happened is the solution used to treat the wood was changed a few years ago to make it more environmentally friendly.

Yeah, like S&Ws bluing method. More environmentally friendly but it doesn't work.

 

[pawngal]

Same problem with my new deck.

Whats happened is the solution used to treat the wood was changed a few years ago to make it more environmentally friendly.

Ugh, my first deck lasted 22 years, replaced it 3 years ago. Guess this one won't last near as long.

 

[riverrat38]

.... Moisture goes into boards through end grain, so I always treat the cut ends of pressure treated wood with a copper solution, whose name escapes me at the moment. For non-pressure treated wood, I prime the boards heavily on the cut end.

Probably Copper Naphthenate

Copper naphthenate - Wikipedia

It has a greenish tint.
I used to be an engineer for a power company. My speciality was poles. Through the years, the quality of the Red Cedar that we used for our poles decreased. The "strength" of the preservatives decreased. Service length of poles decreased. Expensive. We treated the pole butts in place with preservatives to extend the life of the poles. When I retired, we were using heavy heat shrink tubing on the underground portion of the poles. Had to be heated just like the stuff on wire splices. This was partly to extend the life of the poles, and also, to keep the ground around the poles from being contaminated by the Copper solution.

Best,
Rick

 

[daniel lawecki]

They don't treat wood like the old stuff. My pool deck was put up in the early 90's and still good. For the patio I bought Trex composite wood waiting for delivery that stuff will set you back some $$$.

 

[chief38]

From what I have been told, CCA (pressure treated wood) has gone through chemical changes in an effort to make it safer. While it may indeed be more environmentally friendly, that usually translates to a less effective product.

 

[H Richard]

The new "artificial" wood decking materials look very good now. A little more initially, but quite a lot of savings over the next 20+ years.

 

[keith44spl]

Like a lot of other things now'n'days.........

Pressure treating don't go very deep.



.

 

[BC38]

In my experience, if you want a deck to last build it out of cedar then seal it with a good waterproofing - Pennofin is my favorite..
Costs a bit more than treated, but not nearly as much as rebuilding it in 3-4 years.

 

[Nevada Ed]

One reason Redwood and Galvi. post are used in the construction field.

The "New" stuff is ok but..........

One thing I hate is replacing a fence.

I just did a large porch in South Lake Tahoe a year ago, on my cabin.
Been there, done that.

It is a lot easier than replacing old concrete............

 

[ameridaddy]

Probably Copper Naphthenate

Copper naphthenate - Wikipedia

It has a greenish tint.
I used to be an engineer for a power company. My speciality was poles. Through the years, the quality of the Red Cedar that we used for our poles decreased. The "strength" of the preservatives decreased. Service length of poles decreased. Expensive. We treated the pole butts in place with preservatives to extend the life of the poles. When I retired, we were using heavy heat shrink tubing on the underground portion of the poles. Had to be heated just like the stuff on wire splices. This was partly to extend the life of the poles, and also, to keep the ground around the poles from being contaminated by the Copper solution.

Best,
Rick

That's the chemical, but I still don't remember the commercial name of the stuff. Don't know if it's even available anymore.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

Same problem with my new deck.

Whats happened is the solution used to treat the wood was changed a few years ago to make it more environmentally friendly.

Just what we all need - biodegradable houses.

 

[rwsmith]

Copper naphthenate and a question....

That's the chemical, but I still don't remember the commercial name of the stuff. Don't know if it's even available anymore.

Copper naphthenate - Coppershield, Coppercoat are a couple of brands for DIY treating of cut ends of lumber.

How about 'Yellawood'. What is that? Is it rot-resistant?

 

[daniel lawecki]

The old way caused cancer and arsenic was a by product or used.

 

[Rule3]

If the OP had properly applied, Kroil, Techno wood additive and applied the best Carnauba Wax, all this decay would have be prevented!

 

[eveled]

I gave up on wood decks and stairs. Went with prefab cement stairs, and a patio.

Seems that wooden decks are a constant maintenance issue. Have to be shoveled off in the winter, and a fire hazard.