Pressure Treated Posts.

[fRED mCnEILL]

Last fall we built a new fence using pressure treated 6X6 posts.At that time the wood was wet as well as having been recently pressure treated so it all looked the same. however, once the weather got warm this spring and the wood dried out it became evident that a nmuber of the posts were not treated one one face.
I am concerned that the wood will start to decay where it is not treated? am I correct?

Thanks

Fred

[jeff shanz]

If you paint or solid-stain the fence it shouldn't matter much.
I would be more concerned about twisting and warping than anything else.
Pressure treated doesn't like long, prolonged sun exposure.

[Art Mann]

Pressure treated lumber isn't surface applied. It is immersed in the chemical and becomes deeply saturated. I don't see how one face could be missed. Sometimes the treatment isn't obvious and I suspect that is what you are seeing. Your posts are probably just fine.

[Dave Zellers]

Pressure treated lumber isn't surface applied. It is immersed in the chemical and becomes deeply saturated. I don't see how one face could be missed. Sometimes the treatment isn't obvious and I suspect that is what you are seeing. Your posts are probably just fine.

I was thinking the same thing. Plus the spring wood more easily absorbs the treatment than the heart wood. So maybe the side they are looking at is all heartwood.

But as far as I know the wood is milled, cut to length, bundled with stickers and then pressure treated. So it's a good idea if you are going to cut a post to length, to put the uncut end in the ground.

There are I believe different levels of pressure treatment that provide more or less penetration for different price levels.

[Mel Fulks]

I think Dave is right. The heart wood doesn't take up as much chemical in the treatment ,if any, and rots before the treated sap wood. But still can last long time . You could brush on some copper naphthalate then paint it.

[Rich Enders]

I purchased 4" by 4" pressure treated posts from Home Depot and stored them outside. In less than a year they were worthless. Warped and twisted, with extensive cracking. Maybe Arizona conditions played a part, but these posts would not be useful here without painting. But if I need to paint, what do I gain by paying the premium for pressure treatment.

I don't remember this sort of poor quality with the old pressure treatments.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I purchased 4" by 4" pressure treated posts from Home Depot and stored them outside. In less than a year they were worthless. Warped and twisted, with extensive cracking. Maybe Arizona conditions played a part, but these posts would not be useful here without painting. But if I need to paint, what do I gain by paying the premium for pressure treatment.

I don't remember this sort of poor quality with the old pressure treatments.

The old pressure treated warped, twisted and checked every bit as bad as the new.....maybe even worse.

Pressure treating doesn't weather proof wood, it just makes it resist rot.

Paint and/or stain will protect the wood from the effects of water and sun (UV), but, will not prevent rot or the growth of fungi.

Pressure treating for the rot, decay, insects and fungi & paint/stain for appearance and protection from the elements.