Pressure treated lumber ID

[bluefrier]

My fellow woodburners,
Today I scored some 4x4 lumber and don't know if it is pressure treated.
Is there any reliable way of knowing?

Bluefrier

 

[fossil]

Cut about an inch or so off one of the ends, take a good look straight on at the end grain. If it's been treated, you should see where it penetrated maybe a 1/4" or so around the perimeter of the end-on cross-section. At first blush, that doesn't look to me like treated wood. Some of it's really easy to spot, since during the treatment process they punch little indents all along the sides to facilitate the absorption of the treatment fluid...but not all treated wood is made that way, particularly wood for decking where the punch marks would detract from the appearance. Rick

 

[the_dude]

Exactly what Rick said to tell for sure, although that does look like it is treated to me.

 

[bluefrier]

Rick, I did not see any pentration on the wood (guess that's a good sign).
the_dude think it is treated (not good) so I need a tie breaker.
Cast your votes treated/untreated?

 

[elmoleaf]

Looks PT, but a couple more photos might help.
Build with it, don't burn it.

 

[bluefrier]

Looks PT, but a couple more photos might help.
Build with it, don't burn it.

Ok. Tread over. 2 to 1 for pressure treated!

 

[savageactor7]

Looks pt to me too...hope your going to use it to stack wood on and not burn it. Damn pt 4x4's will last forever and a day...good score.

 

[CTBurner]

really looks pt to me and i see that stuff every day

 

[fossil]

Kinda represents the extremes, I've seen PT wood that's not nearly so blatantly obvious as the sample on the left...but you see what I was suggesting. Rick

EDIT: The sample on the right is not PT, the apparent edge discoloration along the top is from me putting it through my table saw...that's as high as the blade goes.

 

[begreen]

Looks PT, but a couple more photos might help.
Build with it, don't burn it.

Ok. Tread over. 2 to 1 for pressure treated!

The color sort of looks treated, but it doesn't look PT comparing to our normal PT 2x4s. Out here most PT wood has regular perforations so that the treatment soaks deeper into the grain of the wood. Rick's photo is a good illustration of the cross section of these perforations.

 

[the_dude]

Looks PT, but a couple more photos might help.
Build with it, don't burn it.

Ok. Tread over. 2 to 1 for pressure treated!

The color sort of looks treated, but it doesn't look PT comparing to our normal PT 2x4s. Out here most PT wood has regular perforations so that the treatment soaks deeper into the grain of the wood. Rick's photo is a good illustration of the cross section of these perforations.

Some PT 4x4's do not have the perforated edges for astetic reasons. I just built a deck and used AC2 treated 4x4's for the posts, and they had no perforations. They reason I said these particular 4x4's looked treated was due to sheen and color. Non treated are usually very dull, and have a much lighter color.

 

[fossil]

Yes on all points...and there appears to be some sort of residue. It's just hard to tell from one side shot. I'd still like to see a pic of freshly cut end grain. Rick

 

[n6crv]

What is the real trouble with burning PT wood? Just seems to me that the smoke is going up the chimney and you are not breathing it. IF something that was built with PT wood burns they don't call the EPA to do a clean-up. I would not want to burn it all the time but if some got in the fire what would it do?
Thanks
Don

 

[the_dude]

What is the real trouble with burning PT wood? Just seems to me that the smoke is going up the chimney and you are not breathing it. IF something that was built with PT wood burns they don't call the EPA to do a clean-up. I would not want to burn it all the time but if some got in the fire what would it do?
Thanks
Don

Your right, they don't call the EPA. This doesn't mean we should start burning it on purpose. I think it simply comes down to personal responsibility. There are enough people out there that do not understand that wood burning can be a clean alternative, we don't need to throw gas on that fire by openly burning PT. A little bit of litter in the ditch probably isn't a big deal either, but I'm not going to start throwing garbage out my car window.

 

[fossil]

Somebody's going to breathe it. An accidental fire is one thing...and what's to clean up? It's already all gone up in smoke. Intentional burning is something else...burn responsibly. Rick

 

[bluefrier]

Somebody's going to breathe it. An accidental fire is one thing...and what's to clean up? It's already all gone up in smoke. Intentional burning is something else...burn responsibly. Rick

That's why I not gonna burn it.....This stuff could release arsenic and other nasty stuff into the air (I refuse to take that chance).
Just for educational sake here is a shot of the cut-off end.

 

[the_dude]

Yeah, that's treated. Stack wood on it!

 

[n6crv]

Thanks was just wondering. I thought that I heard somewhere that the stuff that is used for the PT is different now. The last PT wood we got did not have the same old green color. It was marked PT on the end but looked very close to non PT wood. Again Thanks for the info.
Don