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Thread: Treated wood - inside use

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
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    Question Treated wood - inside use

    As the new shop is going up, I am looking at building a finish room and bathroom. I notice that the price of treated 2x4x8 is cheaper than non-treated boards a Lowes. I googled around, and it seems with the new ACQ treatment, it is OK to use the treated wood on the inside (except counter top and cutting boards use). The main concern is to let the treated wood dry before installation to prevent moisture seepage.

    Apparently the treated is a lower grade yellow pine, and the non treated is whitewood(?) - but for framing walls, I don't see a problem.

    Also, need to use coated connectors (nails, screws, fasteners) since the treatment is corrosive to metal.

    Experience, comments, or concerns for using treated wood for interior framing? ( I will need to use treated for the base plate on concrete anyway)

  2. #2
    Rick,

    Just wait till that wet yellow pine starts to dry out and twist and bow. It will look like a pretzel. Yellow pine is bad enough and add extra moisture to it and it gets worse. I would be much more inclined to use the white wood except for the sill plate and use treated there. This is just my humble opinion.

    Alan

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
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    Most treated lumber is not kiln dried after treating, hence the movement. If you can purchase KDAT treated lumber, it would be a better choice.

    Speaking personally, in my life I have seen countless instances where some product is labled "safe" for use, and then ten years later all of a sudden it is hazardous to your health. Then, some of them are even later deemed "safe" again.

    Although the latest "treatment" is supposed to be safe, personally I would lean more towards the non-treated product.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alan Trout View Post
    Rick,

    Just wait till that wet yellow pine starts to dry out and twist and bow. It will look like a pretzel.

    Alan
    I wonder if it would work better to build the walls wet, and then let them dry? When used for outside structures, the treated does not seem to warp up so bad. Maybe that is due to the fact of being held in place by the structure? (although I have seen a few pretzels outside too)
    Last edited by Rick Prosser; 12-31-2009 at 12:06 PM. Reason: typo

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Atlanta, GA
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    Rick:

    Don't. Period.

    Use the PT for the bottom plates, but use standard SPF studs for the walls and top plates. Stay on the correct side of the "cheaper versus headaches" curve. It ain't worth it. The warp and twist you will see as the 2x4 verticals dry will be impressive.

    Scott is dead-nuts on target - Kiln Dried After Treating (KDAT) does not have this problem, but that is not what you are talking about - it is not readily available, and it is $$$ more expensive.

    But - Scott and I disagree on the "safety" issue:

    The PT wood is safe. The chemicals are safe. The chemical that had been used previously was safe. It was all a big political brou-ha-ha, and at the end of the day, when the noise died down and actual science was completed, the final answer was straight from SNL's Emily Litella: "Ooops. Never mind". Too late: A low-cost 50+ year bulletproof product is gone (for basic residential use - still used for water submersion applications structural wood foundations in houses, and agricultural applications - nothing else does the job - what does that tell you?).

    Don't eat it. Don't smoke it. Don't use it for swizzle sticks in your Manhattans. Don't use it for cutting boards. Don't burn it. Same advice for that can of Waterlox on your shelf - except the PT won't spontaneously combust. The PT chemicals are "fixed" and just simply don't do anything that changes that. PT wood is safe. Go to the Borg and ask for an MSDS on basic SPF studs - it'll make you crazy.
    Last edited by Kent A Bathurst; 12-31-2009 at 12:45 PM.
    When I started woodworking, I didn't know squat. I have progressed in 30 years - now I do know squat.

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