Howdy y'all! Some of you may remember me. I kinda quit posting abruptly a few months ago due to being busy with MANY things, but I've thought about all of you and in case you were concerned (yeah, right! :D) I'm still around and I'm doing well... In fact I'm getting married on Friday!
But I digress...
I'll get to the point. I was strolling through my local TSC today and noticed some "Asphalt Paint" for preserving posts. It was approved for ground contact use and underground use. It was also water-soluable, which raised a red flag for me. I'm wondering if anybody has used this stuff and how well it performs. I figured if there were ANYBODY who could tell me about this stuff, they could be found right here and would be more than happy to share their experience with it!
It would be an ideal solution to avoid buying PT posts for some of my outbuildings and would allow me to use my own SYP after preserving the portion that will be underground.
What do y'all think?
PS... It feels GOOD to post here again!
Welcome back gr
It sounds too good to be true, so I suspect that is the case. Marketing folk will may say anything to sell the product.
It may protect the post from some things, but will NOT likely replace a pressure treatment of a preservative.
And a congrats on getting married. Which one should we feel sorry for? Maybe neither.... ;D
Pressuring treating done properly will get the solution deep into the wood...deeper than you can achieve without pressure, even with SYP. The chemicals used when PT also are better...longer life and not an environmental risk and stronger. They are also measured amounts so that there is enough for ground contact. They come with a limited lifetime warranty. If you treat yourself, what will you do with the spillage or excess chemical? The commercial theater will have a drip pad to recapture. Make sure PT wood has a bonafide label. In any case, always treat any freshly exposed ends, holes, etc.
Water soluble chemicals are common, but the chemical then attaches itself to the wood, although borates are known to leach out. In any case, almost all PT wood that we would buy at a store will be soaking wet, even though it was dried to maybe 15% MC prior to treating. It is common to see a bit of shrinkage in PT wood, but you can buy KDAT for extra money...kiln dried after treatment.
I do agree that with PT wood, "you get what you pay for."
Some treaters will treat wood that you bring to them.
grweldon,glad I clicked on to this post. Congratulations on getting married.
Thanks CFarm... I can't wait... Come on Friday! I'm not terribly proud to say this will be #3, but those are the facts. I've believe I've got one who will stay with me this time!
Doc Gene,
I was not intending to PT my own wood, just preserve the portion that I put into the ground with the asphalt perservative. I apreciate the info on the PT lumber; I've used tens of thousands of dollars of the stuff over the last 30 years or so and I understand it's propertys really well. I wasn't asking if I should use commercial PT or treat my own. I would certainly make sure I used commercial grade for heavy structures and structures that I would be living in (my house foundation is constructed from it). I was wondering if the asphalt paint would do a sufficient job for the 10 x 12 storage shed I'm building to store my lawnmowers, weed-eaters and gas cans so that I could mill my own 4 x 4s and plant them in the ground...
What do you think Doc?
grweldon,
Have you considered pouring concrete posts in the ground and anchoring the wood posts to those? That would eliminate the posts being in-ground.
I vote in favor of tyb525 's proposal too. I do not believe you will get enough treatment to offer substantial protection with the asphalt. In case you are not aware, they make a system of tubes for pouring, anchors, bolts, etc. for making a concrete pier with a wood post fastened to the top.
Thanks y'all. I've done it that way as well, my barn is built using concrete pads and metal anchors. Again, this is just going to be a storage shed. Posts in the ground anchored with a bag of dry concrete and then backfilled is the least expensive most expedient method and for this shed I will be using this method.
Thank you Gene for your opinion on the Asphalt. That is the type of information I am looking for. There are other methods of home preservation that are available. I will use one of those. I only have 4-6 4x4s to plant...
grweldon
QuoteThere are other methods of home preservation
I think the message might be that there are no methods to preserve SYP posts using a paint-on system. They may look good, and cost you money.... but the posts will rot soon, and sooner if set in concrete.
Just sayin.... but good luck, even tho it is "just a shed".
" I've believe I've got one who will stay with me this time!"
You've got to quit wearing out your off-bearers. :D :D
Third times a charm gr... congratulations.
GRweldon
Congratulations on the pending nuptuals!
What have you folks found that work good for a base to use on concrete? I plan to use square posts to mount my roll up doors to on a pole barn. I had thought of using 8x8 posts on top of concrete but not sure what post base to use. Last ones I looked at would bolt on top of the concrete and were like $50 each. I have not used these before but seemed expensive.
Not trying to high jack the thread concerning coating, just wondered what some of you who mentioned using post bases had used.
These are what I used, but they are not for 8x8s...
http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/202092496?productId=202092496&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_sku=202092496&cm_mmc=shopping%2d%5f%2dgoogleads%2d%5f%2dpla%2d%5f%2d202092496&ci_gpa=pla
Thank you GR
Looks like I could set it in the concrete as I pour the bases. My challenge will be to line them up in the correct place! ::)
Generally, if you set the wood in concrete and then it gets wet, it will rot really fast. That is why a pier and then a fastener on top of the pier is often a better idea.
I understand what you mean Gene about the rot. I was not clear in my post, I meant I could stand the post brackets up in the concrete as I pour it. My challenge is to make sure I line up the brackets in line with the wall and the correct width apart for my roll up door mounting. I knew what I was thinking but my fingers did not type it!
I had thought about pouring the pier and after it sets up use a base mounted via a lead anchor type attachment on top of the concrete and not a mount sunk in the concrete.
I set all my 4X4 pt posts in concrete for my fence. All have rotted and had to be replaced. Lesson learned.
For my 8 x 12 storage shed, I didn't set anything in the ground. I just used three 4x4 x 12' PT as skids under the floor joists, and laid out concrete pavers, three under each skid. We knew we'd be moving it at least once after it was built, and this made it easy.
I actually thought ahead for once, and chamfered the ends of the 4x4s so they wouldn't dig in when I dragged it. Hauled it about 100 yards with the tractor when we finally moved it, and it worked great. Just lifted up and edge and put the pavers back under. it's been 12 years, and no signs of rot yet.
You have to do a bit of looking to find PT lumber around here that is rated for ground contact (let alone "in ground" use). Most of what the hardware/retail lumber stores stock is rated for "above ground" use.
Sawmill and Woodlot magazine had a great article about home-applied wood treatments in one of their last two issues. The gist of the article was a recommendation for a borate treatment followed by copper napthanate (Cu-Nap).
Thanks scsmith! When you say one of the last two, are you speaking February or March? Either my subscription ran out or they haven't produced and April or May issue yet...
Quote from: grweldon on May 13, 2013, 03:19:38 PM
Thanks scsmith! When you say one of the last two, are you speaking February or March? Either my subscription ran out or they haven't produced and April or May issue yet...
March 2013 issue.
It is important to appreciate that home treatments without pressure will not provide a great deal of protection, compared to commercial pressure treated wood. Also, borates will leach out somewhat if the wood is exposed to wetting, so the chemical left in the wood is reduced. The key to deciding what type of treatment to use is the loss that will occur if and when the treated wood fails. If the piece is used to support a deck and people could be injured, or if the piece is a fence post that encloses expensive livestock, then failure cannot be tolerated. So, go with commercial treatments. A proper commercial treatment, even with ground contact, will last for over 50 years.