copper based paint on wood preservative.
The new issue of FHB , along with many past articles that talk about building decks, advises that all cuts on PT wood should be painted with a wood preservative since the exposed wood likely will have an inner area that the treatment process did not reach. I’m OK with that. Just one problem-nobody sells the stuff. I can find it online, of course, but why in the world do lumber sellers or building supplies refuse to sell it? No article in FHB gives any details about products or availability either. So who is actually following this advice?
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I once asked a pest control guy about a preservative. He said "get some of that green sh*t". I knew right away that he meant Termin8. It now comes in clear and brown too. There are other brands available. I don't know where you looked but any lumber yard, big box store or hardware store should have it.
Thanks Mike. I live in Vermont and asked at every place within thirty miles of my home. Now I've got a brand to ask for.
Copper Green at HD
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Copper-Green-1-gal-Wood-Preservative-Copper1/100203025
I've been building decks in rainy, wet south Florida for 45 years now. I've never painted a cut end of PT and as far as I know none of my decks has rotted out or fallen down. Anything you paint on is hardly going to do more than stain the surface.
Hereabouts the lowest grade of TYP seems very poor. If you cut it it's obvious the micronized copper never got close to the board's center. If you don't coat it with copper napthenate or similar you've just opened up a microbe super highway to the loblolly buffet.
We can still get treated for ground contact which is more expensive but looks much more durable. Almost no one in these parts practices coating their cuts, this will provide a lot of repairs in the near future. I'm surprised there haven't been lawsuits over the performance of treated wood already.
Where I see rot is where there is wood to wood contact that remains wet throughout the winter months and this is not on the cut ends but where the 4x4 posts have connections with rails and the decking and where decking sits directly on the joists. Putting bitumen tape along the tops of the joists and going to metal deck posts and railings saves the homeowner in the long run with the reduced maintenance and more years between repairs.