CCA or Penta treatment

computerboy · Aug 15, 2005

I am going to start a fence project around my yard. I can get round fence posts either treated with Penta or CCA. Is one better than the other? Is there any draw backs to either with regards to a fence post? I have used CCA treated lumber but I do not know much about the penta treatment of wood. They will be used for a 4 rail fence with CCA treated 2x6s as the rails.

Thanks in advance,
Mike

beenthere · Aug 15, 2005

Didn't think Penta was available anymore, and CCA is hard to get (as treatments) due to the EPA hype and the fear from treaters that they would have undue liabilities. So the treaters just take the easy route and treat with ACA now. Not as good, but do they care? Not likely if they can treat more wood in the future when it fails.

Sorry to sound so pesamistic. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

If you can get Penta, it is the best IMO. CCA is good too, but not as good as Penta.

computerboy · Aug 15, 2005

Our local hardware/farm store only sells penta treated posts. I talked to another place and the guy said CCA treated posts. I did not think twice about it. I just went out to the garage and my lumber from Lowe's is ACQ treated. I will have to call them back just to confirm.

It gets confusing now a days with all the acronyms. It looks like I will go with the penta treated post.

Thanks,
Mike

ronjhall · Aug 16, 2005

From a longevity point of consideration. I would go with the Penta post. I have Penta and CCA post on my place. The Penta's are up to 30 years old. The CCA's are about 15 years old. The Penta post show very little rot. I believe that Penta was dropped because of problems with animals eating the treated wood and getting sick.

GeneD14 · Aug 16, 2005

I have seen people take a treated post and paint the 3' section that goes below grade with tar for added protection. Has anyone else seen this? Is it worth the hassle? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

beenthere · Aug 16, 2005

You are right about the 'dropped because animals eating it and getting sick', but the real story is
Cows in Michigan were giving tainted milk, found to contain pentachlorophenol, and erroneously traced back to thinking the Penta treated poles in the barn were somehow the cause of the tainted milk. Before the truth could come out (that some Penta had been mistakenly ground up in the feed), the 'huggers' and the media had the story blown out of proportion and the march was on to ban Penta (from consumer home purchase).
We shoot ourselves in the foot so often with this type of hype. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I am wondering if the use of Penta was implying 'treated' wood, and it is not really Penta. When you check, there will be a tag on the treated lumber to tell what the treatment is and to what level it is.

If you can get Penta, that would be great.

wejones · Aug 20, 2005

GeneD14, I did that over 20 years ago on the posts that support my decks and they are still very sound. In my view it is worth the effort. I have also done that on other pole buildings. I thinned the foundation coating with diesel fuel and used it on CCA treated posts. Worked great although it was messy. Willie Jones

GeneD14 · Aug 20, 2005

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( GeneD14, I did that over 20 years ago on the posts that support my decks and they are still very sound. In my view it is worth the effort. I have also done that on other pole buildings. I thinned the foundation coating with diesel fuel and used it on CCA treated posts. Worked great although it was messy. Willie Jones )</font>

Thanks for the relpy. It sounds like it did a good job for you. I may have to try that on my next "post" project.