Redwood or pressure treated?

[Dieselhorses]

I miss the good ole .40 retention “wolmanized” treated wood. Still have some post buried made from it. True ground contact material. Now I just soak ends in ATF.


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[Lloyd Smale]

I guess at my age I could probably put cedar poles (heck probably pine) in the ground and theyd last as long as id need them too.

[Shawlerbrook]

Ditto above. The old old arsenic pressure treated was miles better than the copper stuff they sell now. Bury the post in gravel so that water drains away.

[Mal Paso]

It's the Old Redwoods that develop tannin and other chemicals that resist rot and insects. New growth and whitewood has almost none and rots as fast as pine. It would be a waste to put most of the currently available redwood in the ground.

Cedar is much the same. I have old cedars on my land and you can smell them just driving by on a warm day.

Pressure treat isn't what it used to be. I've seen fungus growing on the new stuff.

See if there are sawyers with portable mills in your area and ask them. You may have trees in your area that would do the job better. Some wood does not plane well or is otherwise unsuitable for lumber but would be fine as a rough sawn post. I saw Black Locust mentioned earlier.

[blackthorn]

For what it may be worth---My Dad used to make fence posts out of Quaking Aspen trees. We lived in south-central Manitoba and these posts lasted in the ground for many years with no rot. He cut to length, sharpened the end and stood a bunch of them (pointed end down) in open-toped 45 gallon drums with a strong solution of Copper Sulfate (blue stone) and water. If I recall correctly, he left them there for about 2 weeks to cure. Maybe you could use a similar process to cure decking boards, using a trough set-up to submerge the whole board. One thing though is you should cut to size and drill any attachment holes prior to curing as the wood becomes exceedingly hard once cured. An uncured Aspen post did not last very long. Also, I have no idea how this would work on other species of lumber. I suspect the bluestone treatment should work on any wood that is absorbent.

[gnostic]

I'm having a 60'x10' deck built on the back of my house. I'm buying some fake wood from Menards that has a 10 year warranty. The fake wood costs twice as much as real wood, the ten year warranty sold the deal.....

[labradigger1]

Redwood isnt what it used to be as said above. Neither is cedar. If you must use these choices make sure it’s heartwood. Black locust and Osage orange with the ends charred in a fire will outlast any wood in the USA, including wood treated with creasote or acq, especially if you let it dry first. Set it in the ground as it grew (large end down). If digging a hole put 6” of clean gravel in the hole so it will drain.

[ascast]

I could ship you Black locust if you wish. Prob'ly cheaper to go with treated, won't last as long, but cheaper.

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I hate redwood. You cannot handle the stuff without getting a lot of splinters. As for rot or termite resistance, forget it. To me, it isn't even wood.

[J Six]

Pressure treated.

No saddles, they're hinge points. No tar, no ancient practices from before pressure treatment.

Gravel below the frost line. Folks who have trouble have it when they don't dig deep enough.

Wear gloves. Real pressure treated fenceposts are full of splinters, and the chemicals will make you give your soul to jesus with any splinter that you don't stop and dig right out.