[Greenbuilding] Alternatives to Pressure Treated Wood

[William Updike]

The borate treated lumber that Keith is referring to
is called Envirosafe Plus.  The borates don't leach
out of the wood (unlike in other borate treated lumber
like Blu-Wood that can't be exposed to the elements)
because it is bound to the wood using a polymer
process.   It certainly would be a good use in this
application if you can find a retailer in your area
(AZ, FL, NC, & VA).  It comes with a 40-year warranty.

In addition to it being better environmentally, it
also does not corrode fasteners and flashing like ACQ
and looks natural--without that ugly green/brown look.
 And it dries in 2 weeks--meaning it can be
stained/painted more quickly than traditional PT,
saving time on the jobsite.  

The kicker is that it's generally priced the same or
sometimes even better than other PT.

We sell the product in the mid-Atlantic U.S., but that
probably won't help you.  There are retailers
throughout the country though, so maybe you could find
someone. 

You will likely be seeing this product a lot more in
the near future because of all of its benefits.

Incidentally Trex is not a particularly green product.
 Look at the Healthy Building Network's analysis of
composite/recycled decking:

http://tinyurl.com/2j5wfo

Trex shows up very low on their list.

Good luck!

Cheers,

Bill Updike
www.NatureNeutral.com
 
--- Bruce Donelson <abetterbuilder at frontiernet.net>
wrote:

> 
> Yes, you're right sleepers are used all the time.
> Plastic lumber
> typically has very poor strength, so while it might
> be used for a
> sleeper design (as long as it's "full contact"), I'm
> not sure I'd trust
> it structurally, from what I've seen. I sort of like
> the concrete pier
> ideas, except that everything has to be quite high
> to make space for
> full-fledged structural lumber in that case. If
> you're using sleepers,
> you should probably try to align them with the
> underlying framing
> (unless they are across it), since if you've got
> 1/2" plywood sheathing,
> it might not support the weight of your deck happily
> between rafters.
> 
> There is some borate & polymer treated wood that
> I've heard about but
> haven't seen.
> 
> The Borate treated lumber will leach the borates out
> in the rain, so it
> wouldn't be such a good bet for a roof deck. You
> would want something rated
> for ground contact, because your roof might be very
> wet for some durations.
> 
> That said, the newer ACQ pressure treated wood is
> considerably less toxic
> than the older CCA treated, which contained arsenic.
> But the copper content
> of ACQ is more corrosive, so your fasteners and
> hangers need more corrosion
> protection than fasteners into CCA wood did.
> 
> Bruce Donelson
> A Better Builder
> 
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