Replies

1. 
   BossCrunk | Jul 20, 2006 09:55pm | #1

   Let is sit for a few months and then use a semi-opaque exterior stain.

   It would be best if you found a shade of green that fit your eye.

   
   

   ---

   Edited 7/20/2006 2:56 pm ET by BossCrunk

1. 
   Roger | Jul 21, 2006 12:57am | #2

   Thanks Boss.

2. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Jul 21, 2006 06:31am | #3

   Agree with the Boss on letting it sit. I usually let it go through the summer here in Georgia and then stain it in fall as newly treated has a very high moisture content. About 6 months is right for my area.

   BTW.. I bought some pressure treat about 6 years ago to build new front steps and porch. At the time they had it in colors as they pressure treated it with the normal ingredients mixed with dye or pigments of some sort. The draw-back was it was almost twice as expensive as the regular PT.

   Good luck...

   SARGE.. g-47

1. 
   philip | Jul 21, 2006 10:45am | #4

   Come on guys- who wants to let the thing sit for months? Is there not a penetrating solvent stain In the U. S of A that he can use to change the colour???( wet or not)Philip Marcou

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Jul 21, 2006 02:58pm | #5

   Yes, it is mostly a myth that one should wait before staining.  Any benefit from additional drying past a few weeks is off set by degradation of the wood surface fibers.  (The rule that I have seen is that it's dry enough to stain if water doesn't fly when you cut it with a circular saw.)  Forest Product Lab testing affirms this for the older CCA material though I haven't seen it mentioned specifically for ACQ treated wood.  Sovent based stains do penetrate better than water based. 

1. 
   BossCrunk | Jul 21, 2006 05:02pm | #6

   Q. How long should I wait before I paint or stain my deck?  

   A. Even though the lumber may be kiln-dried before treatment, using water-borne preservatives restores moisture to the wood. Too much moisture in the wood may prevent the stain or paint from penetrating the wood sufficiently. It is best to test the wood by painting or staining a scrap piece to see if it applies properly. If not, wait until it does. A water repellent should be applied annually. Do not use latex paints. Semi-transparent, oil-based stains work best. If you do not have time to wait, purchase wood marked "KDAT" (Kiln-dried after treatment). 

2. 
   BossCrunk | Jul 21, 2006 05:03pm | #7

   FINISHESAlthough treated wood is protected against decay and termite attack, the application of a water-repellent sealer to all exposed wood surfaces is recommended upon completion of construction. This sealer will help control surface checking (splitting or cracking) and provide an attractive appearance. Over time, reapplication of a sealer is recommended, perhaps every year or two; follow the manufacturer's instructions.

   Special Formulations

   Formulations of wood preservatives are now available that include a water-repellent component, and even color additives. Marketed under a variety of brand names, these treatments provide convenience as well as optimum long-term appearance for outdoor projects. Consult your local lumber dealer about the availability and finishing recommendations of these special treatments in your area. Over several months, pressure-treated Southern Pine lumber will weather naturally to an appealing silver-gray color.Treated Southern Pine lumber will accept a finish similar to untreated material. Most importantly, Southern Pine should be dry before any type of finish is applied.Following construction, most manufacturers of stains and paints recommend a waiting period - from a week to two months - before applying a finish to treated wood, if the project was built with lumber that was not kiln-dried after treatment (KDAT).Most paint manufacturers recommend two coats of a good-quality acrylic latex paint for best results on treated Southern Pine. When applying any type of finish, be certain to follow the recommendations of the paint or stain manufacturer.

1. 
   jazzdogg | Jul 21, 2006 07:15pm | #9

   Hi Boss,

   If you don't mind sharing, what is the source of information you posted?

   Thanks,

    -Jazzdogg-

   "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie

2. 
   BossCrunk | Jul 21, 2006 07:32pm | #10

   I think one was the Southern Yellow Pine council or something like that and another was a trade organization for treated lumber in general.

   I just did a quick search more or less to confirm what I already knew...

   Cheers.

    

    

2. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Jul 21, 2006 05:45pm | #8

   I think Boss nailed our views with the last two post. Having a neighbor that builds out-door furniture for a living, he uses the pre-stained on a sold piece and  KDAT on pre-made for outdoor market selling. That way he had time to wait a couple of weeks before staining and get his desired result while reducing cost from pre-stained. His work has to appeal to the customer on first viewing. He used to use the non KDAT and would apply stain immediately. Come-backs on radical color changes motivated re-thinking his position. 

   The problem, according it him is that a lot of the non KDAT is so wet, it will literally wet your hands when you touch it. Whatever color you get from staining at the moment will change radically in several months as the wood dries naturally in an out-door environment resulting in pot-luck an often having to re-stain to get what was desired,

   So.. bottom line for me is to wait if I want to keep the cost down with non KDAT. If I bought the KDAT, I would still wait 2-4 weeks to let the wood adapt outside as even kiln dry is going to change moiture content in the weather. If it has to be now, as was my front steps and porch (wife complaints of that is soooo ugly), I would choose the pre-colored pressure treat.

   If you want to stain it immediately, nothing says you can't. If you have worked with a lot of pressure treat and seen the results of various hits and misses, you can also wait as we chose to do.

   Bottom line... you have options! :>)

   Regards...

   SARGE.. g-47  

3. 
   RickL | Jul 21, 2006 07:48pm | #11

   I was recently looking at info on building compost bins and none mentioned used pressure treated. Might be health issues.

   http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Health/Nsaeha/w99wood.html

   People can indirectly absorb leached arsenic if they eat vegetables grown in soil contained by CCA-treated wood.  A British study of contaminated soil at a site where treated-wood was made found that carrots grown in soil which contained 200 parts per million (ppm) of arsenic produced crops containing nearly twice the current recommended limit for arsenic in food. Arsenic can be toxic to plants, at levels as low as 1ppm soluble arsenic. In a series of articles on treated-wood, Organic Gardening warns readers to avoid using CCA-treated wood for compost bins and for raised beds containing vegetables, and to avoid using sawdust from the wood in compost or in the garden.

    

1. 
   BossCrunk | Jul 21, 2006 08:26pm | #12

   Good point,,, and a bigger issue than when to stain.

    

1. 
   Biscardi | Jul 21, 2006 11:52pm | #13

   No kidding-

   Change your crank case oil. Wipe the old oil on with a rag or brush and wipe off the excess. Recoat every couple of years. It looks sort of like walnut.

   Frank

2. 
   tinkerer2 | Jul 22, 2006 01:33am | #14

   Arsenic in treated wood - a health issue.

   I'm fairly certain that the use of arsenic in a wood preservative has been outlawed in the US for a couple years now,for that reason.

1. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Jul 22, 2006 06:08am | #15

   And you're correct tinkerer. Jan. 1, 2004 they halted the arsenic for home use (mostly sills in framing) and use 3 other chemicals now (one is tradename Preserve and I forgot the other two by tradename). You can still get the CCA (arsenic treated) for some uses, but most pressure treat is the new chemical stuff for outdoor use. They say it doesn't have the toxics as the arsenic?? Time will tell, I suppose.

   jazzdog.. Boss was correct that the info he posted was from the southern pine council as I found the same post with a google search this afternoon at work. I tried to pull it up to-nite to get the site, but it's MIA from my current search to find it. I can't remember the exact word's I googled with? Old age?  :>)

   All..

   Just a thought. My area uses and goes through much pressure treat as many homes are built and they have decks. That means quick turn-over in lumber at the source. When they break a bundle, the outer pieces are usually cupped from having exposure to air and quick-dry. The inner stock is quite often still dripping wet.

   If you are in an area that doesn't turn it as quickly and it has sat on the shelf fairly exposed to air, it could be dry enough to put a stain on then. Common sense will tell the story.  But, I would personally still wait at least a couple of weeks after it was outside to cure. A moisture meter pays for itself, IMO.

   I have found that a very nice looking finish is obtained by using CWF UV resistant clear finish. If you have time for the lumber to dry well in the sun, it gives the newer style treat a nice natural tone with grain showing as the chemical colors fade away with exposure to sun-light. Most of the deck-builders in this area use this method.

   SARGE.. g-47

1. 
   jazzdogg | Jul 22, 2006 06:25pm | #16

   Hi Sarge,

   Thanks for confirming the source - attribution is always a nice gift to fellow Knotheads!

   I once bought PT 4x4s to be used as fence posts, took them home and planted them, and watched them warp so severely that they were no longer straight enough to use.

   Now I usually sticker and weight them down to limit the extent to which they distort into unusable shapes.

   I've seen 2x6 decking, installed wet and spaced 1/8" apart, shrink as it dried leaving gaps greater than 1/2" between boards; two or three screws across the width of each board may limit cupping as the wood dries, but because it's constrained, it'll split instead.

   I hate working with wet wood - unless I'm making a chair from recently felled trees <g>.

    -Jazzdogg-

   "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie

1. 
   SARGEgrinder47 | Jul 22, 2006 07:40pm | #17

   Wise decision on letting them air dry after being stickered. I have gone to extremes and clamped them with J Cabinetmaster's during that process. If you use them immediately when they are that wet, the sun will attack and whip hinny... you end up with waste. Kinda like divers coming up to quickly from extreme depths and getting the "bends". The bends in PT is not life threatening, but can cause extreme irritation in the area of the pocket book as you pay for the project twice.

   I realize it's not fine furniture you're building with this stuff, but it still requires some common sense and knowledge of the product. The old CCA was cheap, very cheap. This new PT is not, as the chemicals required to do the same thing the arsenic did are much more expensive to inject and get the same results of long life. What you pay for the new stuff could have bought cherry and mahogany back in the 70's when I purchased it. You pay the price for new and improved I suppose.

   You hit something else that someone should have general knowledge of if they are not aware. Even when you get a reasonable working moisture, don't space between boards on flooring. Just butt it up and mother nature will arrange the spacing. A butt up will usually shrink about 1/8" to 1/4" on both sides and give you gap for rain drainage. I have seen very wet PT shrink 1/2" or more on both sides. That is not conducive to a woman walking on a wooden porch or deck floor with high heels. You got an accident waiting to happen.

   Regards for the week-end. The First Lady has assigned the Presidential Chores for the day. ha.. ha...

   SARGE.. g-47