This was in The Lovely County Citizen of Eureka Springs, and is nearly obsolete. Pressure treated wood no longer has the dreaded arsenic, but as far as I know, still has copper and chromium. So don't suck on a splinter.

THE OLD HOUSE DOCTOR 2-3-03

PRESSURE TREATED WOOD PT. 1

          There are few things more misunderstood than the dangerous substances encountered in dealing with old buildings. Lead, silica, asbestos, volatile organic compounds from curing varnishes and paint; it’s a veritable witch’s brew. All have had their usefulness, and many have been eliminated because of health concerns.

          I understand the mindset to avoid the use of toxic substances in building. The manufacture of these chemicals is far more toxic than their use. But I want to point out some things about one product in particular: pressure treated wood.

          Infused with copper, chromium and arsenic, CCA (or ‘osmose,’ or ‘that heavy wet green crap they build decks out of’) is yellow pine that, after treating, is more resistant to rot and termites than non-treated wood. It not impervious to these problems: it just resists them well.                   Don’t believe me? The picture shows what happens when a porch frame is built out of anything but CCA. The builder of this porch used spruce, a particularly bad wood for this purpose. The builder should be ashamed. He should have at least known better.

The porch is less than ten years old. It is costing thousands to fix.

All this could have been avoided with the use of CCA. It is CODE to use CCA in an exposed location or where there is wood contacting a pier or other foundation masonry. It is sheer idiocy NOT to.

Many people have concerns over the health issues involved in using such wood. Chromium, copper and arsenic are all very toxic elements, all heavy metals. So why do laws insist on their use?

To avoid the problem illustrated.

But CCA will be phased out this summer, to be replaced by other types of pressure treated wood. Why? I’ll discuss this next time.

Want to contact me? You can at artandarchitecture@earthlink.net