I'm Cutting Some Oak & Need to Treat the Posts in the Ground... Request Home Treatment Advice.
Avery
Ain't gonna work, Avery. Cut yourself some pine posts, dry them, then take them to Arnold Lumber to be treated. You can also find used power/phone poles free for the hauling. Either option will outlast you, but the oak we have around here won't last long enough to get the tin on the roof.
As DanG posted.... he knows what he is talking about, IMO. :)
I agree Avery. I wanted to do the same years ago for my barn, but realized that anything that goes into the ground here in the south needs to be pressure treated. Arnolds will pressure treat, but oak is not a good candidate. It will only penetrate the surface with their set up. Like DanG said, take some pine to Arnolds. I think they are treating everything at 6.0 .
Have you moved to Sampson yet or are you in Bonifay?
Hawk if you must use oak in the ground you can try drilling a hole in the bottom of your post.If you can find a very long wood auger bit up to 3 ft long,drill in the center and keep it straight in the middle.Dry pack your auger hole with borax and boric acid in the hole as tight as you can.Then glue a wood dowel pin in the end of hole.The post should be dry .Paint it with an epoxy paint up to 6 inches above ground level,2 coats. It would give you years of service before going to hell.You could always put galv.harware in cement and keep post out of the dirt. Brian in baton rouge
Hey Brian, and welcome to the Forum. What you are saying will work just as you say it will, but there are other factors to consider. The first is the time Avery has to work with. He wants to build right away, and those oak posts would take years to dry enough to do what you're suggesting. The second is all of the effort it would take to do all of that, when he could just take a pine post a couple of miles down the road and it would be done. The third is the money. Having pine pressure treated locally would cost less than the gas it would take just to gather all those materials. I say this based on knowing where he is. The PT facility is just a few miles away...one trip there, and another one back. His area is extremely rural, so the likelyhood of rounding up all that stuff locally is pretty slim. Arnold Lumber treats power poles, but will treat for the public for 15¢/bf to the same standards.
I do like your suggestion of pouring concrete footings to place the posts on though. I was about to come back and suggest that when I saw your post. My personal opinion is that that would be the best option. ;) One big advantage of that method would be that he could use green posts and let them dry in place.
I am working on getting a 20 ft long fiberglass pipe to make my own pressure treatment chamber with borates and copper.A pipe company is going to give me the pipe.I gave the pipe plant a pump and filter to keep a water testing pit clean.They test pipe sections at 200psi under water.The water is toxic and can not be drained.So this poolman showed them how to keep it clear.I will share my info later for guys who want to know.I am going to try oak under a longer pressure time to see how deep it will go. I will chat again soon guys. take care Brian 49 in baton rouge
Answer's to Question's:
I did Not buy the Samson, AL Property, their was a Code Restriction (no parking Equip., etc.). on it that came out during the Title search.
I live 8 Miles North of Bonifay, FL 32425, from my place ... I go about 8 miles North on 177A to the FL / AL line.
I have 5 acres, about 2 1/2 wooded with some nice size big oak and the other 2 1/2 acres is grass. I plan on building the log home on the back corner of the lot and need to cut about 15 Oak tree's for the building site.
I still have my 158 acree's in PA and have some nice Locust there but the hauling would be expensive. My Dad make a made pole shed and used Locust. He may have used Creosot to treat the ends that went in the ground but I don't remember if he did or not. I do remember coating some outside lumber with Creosot (from 5 gal. can) and it was wicked stuff. I bet ... Creosot is No longer for sale in the USA.
Pine is fairly cheap around here, and with Arnold Lumber being close by... this seem's like the Best answer.
Also, Removed -- Power Poles might be better yet..because I wanted 16 foot height inside.
Where do I Find these Removed Power Poles in the Bonifay 32425 Area ?
Do I call W. FL Electric or ????
Thanks'
Avery
Quote from: H60 Hawk Pilot on October 05, 2010, 01:35:27 PM
Do I call W. FL Electric or ????
Yep, that would be the place to start. Also, a lot of these little towns in this area have their own electric systems, and many of them will give away used poles. ;)
I am not going to endorse what I am about to share so don't hold me liable.
A couple of guys stopped by and wanted some oak for board fencing. All I had was red oak. They said that would be fine. They wanted the posts out of red oak as well. I advised against it but am not going to tell two grown men how to build their fence.
They said they had used oak posts before and applied Cool Seal on the part that went in the ground.
I have since wondered how that worked out.
That would probably help out a lot Tim, but I would never try it. I just bought a gallon of "cool seal" and it cost about 16 bucks. At 15¢/bf, unless my kakalashuns are enkerek, a 6x6 would run you 45¢ per foot, which would be about nine bucks for a twenty footer. I would heap rather spend that money on something that I KNOW is going to last 30 years.
Quote from: DanG on October 04, 2010, 02:30:30 PM
Cut yourself some pine posts, dry them, then take them to Arnold Lumber to be treated.
Hello all
Just registered and caught this conversation.
I live In Crawfordville, Florida/ Where is this "Arnold Lumber"?
Thanks loads!
Quote from: AllMostRetired on November 07, 2010, 05:21:03 PM
Quote from: DanG on October 04, 2010, 02:30:30 PM
Cut yourself some pine posts, dry them, then take them to Arnold Lumber to be treated.
Hello all
Just registered and caught this conversation.
I live In Crawfordville, Florida/ Where is this "Arnold Lumber"?
Thanks loads!
AllMostRetired,
I think it may be this one:
Arnold Lumber Co Inc
3185 Thomas Drive, Bonifay, FL 32425-4239
(850) 547-5733 ()
Hope that helps.
Herb
Just a question. Red oak is basically like a bunch of straws. You can blow water through it. Will it not take pressure treatment if applied from one end and forced to the other? Is this even viable?
LeeB
Theoretically yes.
Practically.... how will you do it?
Heck if I know. That's why I asked. :D
In fact, I just talked to the pressure treating company in our town and they'll do dry pine, no problem, any thickness, width and length for same price. Oak? Not so much- why waste a good furniture and interior trim wood on PT for in-ground use when pine is so cheap and durable? Just a thought: trade your oak for the PT wood you want maybe?
Good luck. :)
Lj