i am getting ready to put a small deck together for the kids. my wife does not want me to use pressure treated lumber for the frame. she read in prevention mag that pt was being phased out. what do you guys use to hold up your decks? thanks. paul.
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CCA (copper-chromium-arsenic) is being phased out. The arsenic was the bad stuff. I can't even get it in the central plains anymore.
The new pt is ACQ (the long hand escapes me at the moment). Supposedly much more environmental friendly.
Some folks use cedar. It's more rustic, more expensive and doesn't seem to weather as well as treated.
Better get that deck built soon, it's almost pool season.
ammonium copper quaternary compound.
Thanks
Ward
I used the old style PT on my kid deck. When I found out how bad it was, I just restricted the kids to no food on the deck and to wash before eating. They are older now and don't use it as much. I am now starting to think it is time to take it down and plant a garden where it was.
If at first you don't succeed...try again! After that quit! No sense being a dam fool about it! W.C.Fields
You might consider black locust. Highly rot resistant. Hard to cut. Might be hard to find it graded for framing.
Go ahead and use it for the frame. The kids will never come into contact with it there. Use cedar or Ipe' for the deck surface.
Even if you used PT for the deck surface, once it was cured dry, they would have to eat it to have a problem.
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