[Greenbuilding] best lumber for raised vegetable beds

[Tim Vireo Keating]

No, no, no. Trex is NOT recycled plastic lumber. 
Trex is termed wood-plastic composite lumber. The 
ASTM standards do not allow Trex to be called 
recycled plastic lumber because it is composed of 
(50% or so) of wood. Trex will not last 'forever' 
nor, according to Trex, even more than 10 years 
(I believe that is the length of their warranty - 
but I may be wrong about that, as they've worked 
with their formula over the years).

Only materials made with either all plastic 
components or plastic and fiberglass will resist 
the elements outdoors for 200 years or more (the 
estimate for HDPE RPL or RPLs with HDPE and 
fiberglass). These materials do not stain, warp, 
rot or take on moisture, or leach any chemicals. 
They are virtually non-reactive with water and 
other water-based solutions.

But Trex and other wood-plastic composite lumbers 
have been backed by large amounts of capital, be 
it from Mobil (Trex, back in the day) or timber 
companies, Weatherbest, etc.

True RPLs, because they last so long and don't 
use any sawdust, have been unable to find the 
kinds of backing that corporations are willing to 
give to shorter-lived products, and thus labor in 
obscurity - even though they have been used by 
the US Army Corps of Engineers for bridges that 
can accommodate tanks and even locomotives.

tim keating

At 9:45 AM -0700 4/14/11, Kathy Cochran wrote:
>Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
>	boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0079_01CBFA88.A48ECF70"
>Content-Language: en-us
>
>Recycled Plastic Lumber  =è  Trex, or similar products?
>
>From: 
>greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org 
>[mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] 
>On Behalf Of Ron Cascio
>Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2011 9:40 AM
>To: Green Building
>Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] best lumber for raised vegetable beds
>
>RLP ?
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <mailto:t.keating at rainforestrelief.org>Tim Vireo Keating
>To: <mailto:greenbuilding at lists.bioenergylists.org>Green Building
>Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2011 10:41 AM
>Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] best lumber for raised vegetable beds
>
>RPL is often the way to go when looking for 
>durability in exterior applications.
>
>tim keating
>
>
>
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