i am building a deck in a very wet spot in hawaii. the last deck, built here by someone else, rotted in less than ten years. i am using weatherbest composite boards for the decking and railings, but am wondering how to best protect the posts, beams, and joists from rot. i presumably will use treated lumber, but i know paint sometimes has a hard time adhering to treated wood. what else should i protect it with? is there a paint or preservative that will adhere well to the treated wood? anyone with much experience with this stuff?
thanks
Replies
Find a tag on the end of a treated board. It should have the name of the treater and an 800 number. Call and ask for a tech rep, and see what they recommend. Moisture content of the wood is an issue when painting. I recently bought a moisture meter so that I could meter some new shingles and trim going up before we paint it. Too wet and the coatings will bubble up...
Adam,
I was told by my paint suppler to find a solid body stain. I used this on a large ongoing fence project I am doing . I started it three years ago, stained wet treated fence boards then and they are just as nice today as when I did them. The stain I used was called MAXUM . You can check with your paint store. Hope this helps. Rick.
You can paint treated wood without problems as long as it's sufficiently dry. Most treated lumber you buy has a very high moisture content which will quickly cause your paint to fail. It's important to allow the lumber to dry out before painting - several weeks are usually necessary depending on your particular climate.