Wet Treated Lumber---Why?

[Carroll Courtney]

Guys why is treaded lumber such as 2x4,2x6,4x4 etc always wet?You know like its been setting out in the rain for a yr,why can't it be sold dryed and alittle lighter in weight.Just wondering-----Carroll

[phil harold]

It is Pressure Treated Lumber
Pressure treatment is a process that forces chemical preservatives into the wood, so the wood is wet,
I suppose they could kiln dry it afterwards but that would be an added expense...

[Jason Roehl]

You can get dry, pressure-treated lumber. It will be stamped "KDAT", or Kiln Dried After Treatment.

[Jim Koepke]

Oops, didn't realize treaded was a typo.

The borgs carry a lot of "green" lumber (mostly 2X4s) that hasn't been dried. It costs time and money to dry lumber.

jtk

[Gary Max]

We just burned some treated landscape timbers from the borg because they looked like pretzels. I guess I could of taken them back and fought with them since they still had bar code tabs on them but I just wasn't up to a fight for less than $20.00.

[Brian Elfert]

The problem with treated wood is that it warps as it dries. My dad built a treated wood deck in 1982 and it has warped like crazy. It didn't help that he used nails instead of screws. Many hours have been spent replacing boards and replacing popped nails with screws. Even screwing the wood down doesn't guarantee it won't pop the screws. My father really wants to install composite decking, but the $3,000 or so for materials keeps him from doing it. (The deck is quite large.)

[Tom Fischer]

I always thought that traditionally stud lumber was preferred "wet" in the construction trade. The wet lumber is easier to nail (8 penny nails and such) when nailing by hand. And the boards are less prone to spit and crack as the nail goes in.
At least that's what a builder once told me, 35 years ago.
Maybe different now that everybody has pneumatic tools.

[Von Bickley]

You can get dry, pressure-treated lumber. It will be stamped "KDAT", or Kiln Dried After Treatment.

I agree with Jason..... My local lumber yard carries kiln dried pressure-treated #1 lumber, no knots, beautiful lumber. Pretty expensive but no waste.

[Larry Frank]

I agree with the comment that treated lumber is typically wet. In fact, when it dries out it tends to warp and split.

The last two decks that I built I went against all advice. I took the lumber and treated it with Thompsons WaterSeal using a roller before building the deck. Yes, I know that the directions say not to do this. The wood was not completely wet and the WaterSeal did soak in a little.

I did this with both the structural and the 2x6 I used this for decking. In my experience, the WaterSeal slows down how fast the wood dries and reduces the splitting. I have a 16 x 18 foot deck of the 2x6 which was built 10 years ago and do not have a split or crack deck board.

[phil harold]

We just burned some treated landscape timbers
Never burn treated lumber
Especially the CCA version which you still can buy...

[Shawn Christ]

20+ years ago I was in high school and helping my dad in construction. He referred to the treated boards from the lumber yard as "wolmanized" and had a love-hate relationship with the fresh shipments. He had his choice of straight boards, but hit them with a framing hammer and that chemical would spray out in all directions.

[Harry Hagan]

Never burn treated lumber
Especially the CCA version which you still can buy...

Ditto on that. Don't breathe smoke from burning treated lumber unless you're trying to commit suicide!

[Chuck Saunders]

Most treated wood is southern yellow pine. driving nails in dry SYP is no treat

[David Helm]

Most treated wood is southern yellow pine. driving nails in dry SYP is no treat

Depends on where you're from. In the West, most treated lumber is Western Hemlock.