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Treated wood question
Last summer I had a buddy with a cat prepare a site for my pole shed/shop. He pushed all the topsoil into a pile and leveled the site with clean sand and then added about 4 inches of good gravel on top. So I'm sitting with an 80'x 60' parking lot. I would like to start the actual construction this year and my questions are:
What's the consensus on the newer non-arsenic treated timbers underground? Will they last more than 20 years? If there is a problem would some sort of water repellent be a good idea for under the ground line?
I hope to live more than 20 years and if the timber life is going to be limited I would most likely put up a stick built building with foundation or floating slab.
Thanks in advance,
Dave
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Treated wood question
Randy, One of the good things (maybe the only one) about living up here where it gets to -40 degrees is a definite lack of termites. I don't think I've ever seen termite damage. We do have ants that can destroy wood but that's usually above ground level.
Placing the poles on concrete piers would work. Then I'd have to build a highly braced framework similar to a timber frame because the ground would no longer hold the upright poles rigid. I got my sawmill running last fall so all the non-treated inside framework could be just made from pine (free!!). I would still buy the trusses though. Only the wood that touches the concrete would have to be treated. This could be a good way for me to "practice" on a simplified timber frame because I plan on building a timber frame house on this property in a few years. I've built two houses before this but they are traditional stick built houses.
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Treated wood question
Murf, are you saying that you would expect the newer treated wood to last as long? If so that would make things alot simpler and less expensive.
Dave
FYI: Even though the prepared area is much larger I only plan on a 30 x 60 building. I might add a lean-to in the future though.
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Treated wood question
"If you're interested I could point you to people in your area who will either sell you enough rough cut lumber, or bring in a portable sawmill for you to have what you need cut from your own trees. "
Murf, This is almost an insult to someone who has a sawmill and can saw his own lumber. !
I do appreciate the offer though. I also know others who have cut logs for me in the past.
I'm thinking I will pour some concrete pads down under the frost line with treated up from there and backfill with pea gravel or sand.
Dave
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Treated wood question
"I am assuming that you are not going with beams, floor joists and plywood subflooring. If you are, then I have a great design that uses no PT lumber. Let me know and I will share it."
For a while I'll just use the gravel surface for a floor. I don't need the shop for a few years so will just use the building for storage till then. It would make sense to pour the concrete floor right away before it fills up with "stuff" that you have to remove so that you can pour later.
Dave
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