Does ripping down 2×6 all weather wood harm the integrity of the treatment even if I brush on the recommended treatment after cutting it? This is going to be in contact with the ground in a wet area?
-Spencer
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All weather wood??? I guess you are talking about PT (Pressure treated) lumber? If so, it depends a lot on what species of wood it is. Here in the SE US we get SYP (southern yellow pine) and it soaks up the PT chemicals pretty good. On the west coast they use other woods like maybe Douglas fir??? which doesn't absorb the chemicals so well - to the point were they have to "incise" it, which means it has little cuts all over it...
Anyway, for starters you need PT lumber that is rated for ground contact.
Really though, I have no more idea than the man on the moon as to what kind of lumber they sell in Alaska... Thanks for filling out your porfile though.
This is rated for ground contact. I'm not sure of the species, but it is injected and rated .06 versus .04 which is not rated for ground contact (I believe these numbers have to do with the penetration of the treatement). However, the real issue I'm curious about is if ripping it down will weaken its effectiveness, especially since it will be in contact with the ground.
Also, the lumber yard calls this "all weather wood" since it has a .06 penetration. They call above ground contact "outdoor wood" which has a .04 penetration.
Must be a regional thing; the "all weather" and "outdoor". Never heard of it. Built decks for several years... BTW - what color is it? It still matters as to what the species it is though. If you have some does it have a stamp on it? It should. What does it say? Also, it should have stickers on the end of the boards identifying it. The .60 stuff is the good stuff though. Anyway, yes, the treating is not as good inside the boards as outside, but again - more info needed to say how much it matters. When you cut a board if you look clostly you should be able to tell how well the treating has penetrated into the center of the board. 4x4s or larger are worse. I think maybe guys from the west coast treat all their cuts with a brush on preservative. That's because of the type of wood they get. The brush on is never gonna be as good as the pressure cooked in stuff. Can't you just 2x4s use or similar for whatever your project is?
Edited 10/26/2005 9:08 pm ET by Matt
Thanks Matt, this stuff is green and is .60. We're limited to what we can get because we live fairly remote where the lumber yard only carries one size of this stuff (2x6x16). We're trying to prevent some waste and overbuilding (it's also real expensive). Some of it was already ripped down before we became concerned about jeopardizing the rot resistance of it.