[Greenbuilding] protecting outdoor wooden structure from future decay (or at least delaying it)

Sacie Lambertson sacie.lambertson at gmail.com
Tue Feb 18 13:03:15 CST 2014


Re the question of preservation of new deck, in our part of the world you
*never* put gravel at the base of a post.  Our ground is primarily clay
which means water that is collected at the base sits there.  Much better to
put the post in the soil alone.

Moreover, the parts underneath, where the wood makes contact with other
wood needs to be protected or it simply won't last.

So it depends, no one solution will work for everyone.  Use affordable wood
that is resistant to water and the elements; for us here in Kansas the best
choice is Cypress.  Redwood and Cedar cost too much.  We use Hedge (Osage
Orange) for the posts; these will last far longer than any of us live.   I
would build a house on Hedge posts.  We use star-headed, self driving torx
screws for putting it all together.

Were we in the East we might use Black Locust for the posts.

Sacie



On Tue, Feb 18, 2014 at 12:38 PM, Reuben Deumling <9watts at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
>
> On Mon, Feb 17, 2014 at 8:47 AM, John Salmen <terrain at shaw.ca> wrote:
>
>> I'm still convinced the best treatment for exterior wood is no treatment
>> - considering that untreated wood degrades from atmosphere at most about 1/4 "
>> per century - and the natural grey is nice.
>>
>
> That has been my approach to date. But I ask because upon closer
> inspection I'm finding parts of porches built by me (15-25 years ago) out
> of Douglas fir which evidence some (serious) rot in places. Not bugs, just
> disintegration initiated by moisture trapped in cracks. I'm not concerned
> with surfaces that are exposed to sunlight, but the darker places.
>
>>
>>
>> Next on the list is treatments that oxidize the surface uniformly and
>> 'naturally'. Off the shelf products include Lifetime Wood Treatment.
>>
> I'll look into this. Thanks.
>
>>
>>
>> Make sure there is a good air path to all surfaces
>>
>
> I find that this doesn't work in all situations, desirable and sensible
> though it sounds.
>
> and good separation from soil (use gravel where possible as a base)
>>
>
> Yes. Done.
>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* Greenbuilding [mailto:
>> greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] *On Behalf Of *Reuben
>> Deumling
>> *Sent:* February-17-14 8:04 AM
>> *To:* Greenbuilding
>> *Subject:* [Greenbuilding] protecting outdoor wooden structure from
>> future decay (or at least delaying it)
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm in the process of building a large outdoor structure (porch, timber
>> frame bridge, stairs, etc.) out of Douglas fir we milled ourselves. The
>> decking is cedar which I'm not worried about, but the rest I'm realizing
>> could probably benefit from some attempt at prolonging its useful life. I
>> despise pressure treated wood, and am not interested in noxious chemicals.
>> Are there any other methods?
>>
>> Thanks very much.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Greenbuilding mailing list
>> to Send a Message to the list, use the email address
>> Greenbuilding at bioenergylists.org
>>
>> to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page
>>
>> http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/greenbuilding_lists.bioenergylists.org
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Greenbuilding mailing list
> to Send a Message to the list, use the email address
> Greenbuilding at bioenergylists.org
>
> to UNSUBSCRIBE or Change your List Settings use the web page
>
> http://lists.bioenergylists.org/mailman/listinfo/greenbuilding_lists.bioenergylists.org
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.bioenergylists.org/pipermail/greenbuilding_lists.bioenergylists.org/attachments/20140218/516f42a2/attachment.html>


More information about the Greenbuilding mailing list