So, what is this stuff?

[Alan Lightstone]

I know someone is going to have the answer to this in seconds, but I see this wood all the time used for construction on shows like Building Alaska. I assume it's something weather resistant, but I've never seen it around here.

What is it?

444947

[mike stenson]

It's just brown stained PT lumber.

[Jim Becker]

I agree with Mike that the color is likely from whatever treatment method was used on the lumber for weather/insect resistance. Darker sometimes indicates torrefied wood, however. That's a process that goes well beyond kiln drying to the point that there's a chemical change that more or less eliminates moisture absorption. That material isn't inexpensive due to the processing but it's becoming popular for more high-end outdoor projects in some areas.

[mike stenson]

Well, it does look better than the green PT. I'd totally use it for decks etc and most of the stuff I've seen is ground contact rated.

[Dave Sabo]

KDAT lumber is also better looking than reg. PT , and it can be painted.

You’ll pay a premium, but it’s not outa sight.

[Matt Day]

And I’ve noticed that out west their lumber seems to have those marks on them, I’m guessing feeder marks or something from when they were processed. I lived in Utah for a year and most of their framing limber had those marks. Not so in the Midwest and east coast from my experience.

[Mark Bolton]

Thats incised lumber. The inscising helps get a non-pressure treatment deeper into the material. You see it alot with western red cedar. Google incised treated lumber/timber and go to images.

[Alan Lightstone]

Thats incised lumber. The inscising helps get a non-pressure treatment deeper into the material. You see it alot with western red cedar. Google incised treated lumber/timber and go to images.

Ah. I've never seen those marks on PT lumber in Florida. Or Ohio for that matter. It's really the marks that intrigued me.

[mike stenson]

Ah. I've never seen those marks on PT lumber in Florida. Or Ohio for that matter. It's really the marks that intrigued me.

All the PT here has the same roller marks. It seems to be regional in that regard.

[Bill Dufour]

I asked about those marks within the last year and no one here knew what I was talking about. It seems to be a west coast thing. Looks like a cactus with the thorns pulled off. They are punch marks to allow the liquid in deeper. In California the green arsenic wood has been banned for 5-10 years or so. It is the brown arsenic free treatment only in the stores now.
I have read of cows and horses getting sick, maybe dying, from feed troughs they chew on with the arsenic. Some animals will eat the wood ashes for mineral content and die. A bigger concern is the leaching into ground water and lakes from docks and piers.
Bil lD.

[Mark Bolton]

Ah. I've never seen those marks on PT lumber in Florida. Or Ohio for that matter. It's really the marks that intrigued me.

The incising helps with penetration but that heavily incised material is often with things like Borate treatments that are not run under heavy pressure/heat/vacuum. Quick google and this popped up. https://www.hansenpolebuildings.com/2014/08/incising/

The incising is not from feed cogs or anything. Its there for a purpose.

[Mark Bolton]

I asked about those marks within the last year and no one here knew what I was talking about. It seems to be a west coast thing. Looks like a cactus with the thorns pulled off. They are punch marks to allow the liquid in deeper. In California the green arsenic wood has been banned for 5-10 years or so. It is the brown arsenic free treatment only in the stores now.
I have read of cows and horses getting sick, maybe dying, from feed troughs they chew on with the arsenic. Some animals will eat the wood ashes for mineral content and die. A bigger concern is the leaching into ground water and lakes from docks and piers.
Bil lD.

The major issue with the Arsenic in CCA (the best treated material in the world that is now only reserved for commercial use) is that many people, homeowners and contractors alike, were burning the scraps. On job sites to avoid dumpster fees people were burning off cuts from framing and deck construction and there were even documented cases of contractors who packed pressure treated scraps back to their home/shop and burned the scraps. The CCA when burned and exposed to high heat the Arsenic was converted to Arsine gas which is like a bajillion times more carcinogenic than the material in the wood (because the chromating process locks the Arsenic into the wood). The ash from a CCA treated wood fire was equally as dangerous.

The pressure treating industry willingly took the CCA out of the loop for residential to be able to save it for things like commercial lost forms and industrial marine applications where it was needed. Thats when all these new treatments, ACQ, KDAT, PCI, MCA, etc.. all of which are heavily corrosive to fasteners which is why everything got more expensive (double hot dipped minimum or stainless). The treated got more expensive as well because they upped the copper in trade for the Arsenic.

[Bill Dufour]

Growing up we had two powerpole on our property, owned by the utility. Standard creosote poles every few years, maybe five, a crew came by and drilled a 1/2 hole at knee height down at a slight angle. Shoved in a long necked funnel and filled it with more creosote. Came back that afternoon or the next day after the liquid had soaked in and took their funnel away. They pounded in a dowel to seal the hole.

[Mark Bolton]

Growing up we had two powerpole o n our property, owned by the utility. Standard creosote poles every few years, maybe five, a crew came by and drilled a 1/2 hole at knee height down at a slight angle. Shoved in a long necked funnel and filled it with more creosote. Came back that afternoon or the next day after the liquid had soaked in and took their funnel away. They pounded in a dowel to seal the hole.

They are still doing the same thing here currently. They came through my area behind the shop a couple years ago and did them all. Several of the poles have several dowel plugs in them so theyve been done multiple times. I have no idea what they are pouring in there but these guys dont come back, whatever they pour in they do it all in one shot. Gas powered drill, they bore the hole, pour in the juju, drive the plug in, and on to the next.

[John K Jordan]

Ah. I've never seen those marks on PT lumber in Florida. Or Ohio for that matter. It's really the marks that intrigued me.

Not around here either.

[Brian W Evans]

I have seen and wondered about those marks myself. I'm pretty sure I've seen them on both Frank Howarth's YouTube channel and Essential Craftsman's. They're both from the Pacific Northwest. I've never seen it in CT.

[Bill Dufour]

I could very well be wrong about how long they used the funnel. It has been decades since I last saw this operation. I used the technique to pour termite juice into the ground under the sidewalk next to the shop. I drilled a 1/2" Hole every 10 inches and poured about five gallons into each hole with a long necked funnel. it took several fill ups to get five gallons in. Let things dry, filled the holes with some closed cell foam then shot in self leveling concrete caulk.