Will Treated Wood Solve All My Outdoor Problems?
Believe it or not, treated wood does rot and termites do
seem to destroy it. One of the biggest problems I see homeowners and
do-it-yourselfers have been to deal with using treated lumber is how
they actually use it. I've seen people use it for outdoor decks and
expect it to last longer than untreated lumber. This isn't always going
to be true.
Treated wood will not solve all of your outdoor problems. Treated wood
was created for different reasons and different treated building
materials can be used under different conditions. Someone told me that
telephone poles will last forever, but I recently removed a fence that
used telephone poles for supports.
I'm here to tell you, the telephone poles that are treated with some of
the best wood preservatives in the world, rot and suffer from termite
damage also. I know, it's hard to imagine, because someone else told you
that this stuff last longer than regular wood.
If treated lumber is sitting directly on moist dirt and untreated lumber
is positioned away from any moisture, there's a good chance that the
untreated lumber will last a lot longer than the treated lumber. It's
all about building your outdoor projects correctly instead of purchasing
building materials that are guaranteed to last longer than most.
Properly built outdoor projects using untreated lumber, like decks,
gazebos and wood fences usually won't have as many problems as poorly
built projects using treated lumber. Just remember that treated and
untreated lumber can't be exposed to debris that decays or sitting
directly on top of moist soil.