Replies

1. 
   jimblodgett | Jan 10, 2014 09:53am | #1

   "green alternative"?

    If you can throw those replaced boards into the bushes and they provide nutrients for the next generation(s) of vegetation, that seems sustainable to me.  THAT would be a green alternative.

   We need to get serious about what is, and what is not, sustainable.  Not just for our lives.  Or the lives of our buildings. 10 generations of humans is what, 300 years?  400?  Not much in relation to the life of Earth.  

1. 
   gfretwell | Jan 10, 2014 10:33am | #3

   I still never figured out what was wrong with CCA. I understand you might not want to make playground equipment out of it if the kids were climbing on it and licking their fingers (the original threat) but in most uses it is perfectly safe.

   The chemicals that may leach into the ground are trivial compared to what people spray, by the gallon, on their lawn.

   This is simply the nanny state run amok.

2. 
   jimblodgett | Jan 10, 2014 09:56am | #2

   deleted

3. 
   calvin | Jan 13, 2014 06:25am | #4

   Ron

   This expanded story I just rcv'd from FHB.  Seems Mike Guertin also found a problem in the product on a deck he built a while back.

   FHB

4. 
   Mongo | Jan 13, 2014 06:37pm | #5

   chalk another one up for...

   Another reason why I avoid using these hybrid products. 

   I know what I'm getting with wood, with stone, even with PVC trim. But when you mix sawdust and plastic and extrude it into decking, or when you mix this with that...you never know what you're going to end up with. You just really don't know how these hybrid products are going to perform 5, 7, 10 years down the road.

   Outdoor laboratory exposure results are one thing. But the same product installed on a homeowners house, with nail or screw holes in it, that may or may not get pressure washed, that might get painted white...or black...that might see full sun, or might be under an oak tree?

   Interior use is one thing. Exterior is another.

1. 
   DanH | Jan 13, 2014 07:00pm | #6

   Just going to their site -- their claim of mixing wood and glass is clearly bogus -- it can't happen.  In order to get glass you need high heat. From the sound of it they used something along the lines of sodium silicate ("waterglass"), which will form a glass-like coating, but the coating is water-soluble.