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There's a Better Way Video Tips

Pressure-Treated Wood Preservative Tip

By Chuck Miller

If you’ve drilled some pressure-treated lumber for a bolt, you need to protect the inside of that bolt hole with some wood preservative. You could use a small paint brush, but there’s a better way.

Note: The southern yellow pine used for pressure-treated wood on the East Coast allows chemicals to reach the center of a board, so treating holes and cuts with additional preservative isn’t essential. But in other parts of the country – particularly the Northwest – where PT lumber is commonly made from hem-fir, a preservative such as Copper Green is recommended because the PT chemicals don’t always penetrate the full depth of a typical board. If it’s common to treat PT lumber after cutting or drilling in your region, you should find a similar preservative in most local building-supply stores; if not, you probably won’t see it locally.

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  1. perkerk | Dec 14, 2013 09:25am | #1

    I don't think you should do this with copper green or other non-zinc metallic wood preservative. And directly applying it instead of letting penetrate into the wood for awhile (maybe days?) before inserting the bolt will greatly increase the eventual galvanic corrosion. If you are going to do this, probably should only use zinc naphthenate. Also, use hot dipped galvanized bolts and fasteners, not zinc plated.

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