Pressure treated lumber - basics and beyond

We get this question a lot. The simple answer is pressure-treated lumber can be used in any interior application except cutting boards and countertops. Some have also asked, after they’ve found pressure treated lumber installed inside their homes, if there is any danger in having it indoors. The answer is no. There is no danger of either leaching or off-gassing. But these answers beg another question: Why would you use treated lumber indoors? The reason lumber is treated is to protect it from exterior elements that might cause rot, decay or termite infestation. In a protected environment there is no danger of rot or decay, unless the wood is exposed regularly to moisture, such as near a leaking pipe or window.

Some bathroom sub floor panel products are pressure treated as they may be exposed to moisture on a regular basis and some builders use borate-treated lumber, such as ProWood Borate, for sill plates in areas where termite infestation is common. In extreme areas of termite infestation, such as the US Gulf Coast and Hawaii, the whole structural shell may be constructed using ProWood Borate or other borate-treated lumber products. Other than those examples there would not be a need to use pressure treated lumber indoors.

Universal’s ProWood Micro CA pressure treated lumber uses the MicroPro technology developed by Osmose, Inc. On March 9, 2010 the US Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent for the MicroPro technology. Wood products treated with MicroPro, including ProWood Micro CA, are sold in over 5,000 lumber yards and home centers across the US.

The MicroPro pressure treated wood process is Environmentally Preferred Product certified by the testing organization SCS and has earned Green Product Award certification from the National Association of Home Builders Research Center.

The Southern Pine Council recently published its 2010 guide to specifying pressure treated wood: Pressure Treated Southern Pine – standards, specifications and applications. If you've ever had questions regarding this time-honored product line this document will answer them.

• Attributes of the Southern Pine species
• The pressure treating process
• Types of wood preservatives
• The Use Category system (a specifying guide)
• Code standards and building code requirements
• Design values
• Guide to grade and quality marks
• Fastener and connector recommendations
• Use and handling
• Green aspects of wood in general and pressure treated lumber in particular

Here’s the answer to the question of which brand of pressure treated lumber is best:
Universal’s ProWood^® Micro pressure treated lumber products use a wood preservative process that has received environmentally preferable product status. ProWood Micro pressure treated wood products have gained enthusiastic acceptance in the marketplace and are in thousands of retail locations. Its many features and benefits, including sustainability attributes, fastener advantages and performance, make it the choice of professionals and home owners everywhere.

The last thing a homeowner or builder wants to worry about is termites destroying all the hard work they've put into a structure. A great way to guard against these tiny terrors is with ProWood^® Borate treated lumber from Universal Forest Products.

Using ProWood Borate products is the best way to build a structural shell with the protection of your home in mind. ProWood Borate is specially treated with environmentally-safe borates to resist the formidable Formosan termites, whose colonies can consume 1,000 pounds of wood each year.

ProWood Borate is designed for interior use, and can be used for sill plates and other above-ground applications protected from the weather. It has the look, feel and workability of traditional wood. Distinguished by a bluish hue, Borates have been used for more than 100 years, making them the tried and trusted way to protect lumber.

ProWood Borate treated lumber is rot-resistant and protects against pests and damage such as:

• Standard termites
• Carpenter ants
• Roaches
• Dry rot
• Fungal decay
• Wood-boring beetles

ProWood Borate pressure treated lumber features a limited lifetime warranty and is non-corrosive to metal—eliminating the need for expensive fasteners.

The process used to make the micronized copper formulation found in ProWood Micro CA was awarded Environmentally Preferred Product (EPP) status by Scientific Certification Services in December 2007. This was the first pressure treated lumber formulation to earn such status.

We are now pleased to announce that this same formulation has recently earned Green Approved Product Certification from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Research Center. Now, ProWood Micro CA pressure treated lumber products are eligible to receive points toward a building being certified under both the National Green Building Standard and LEED. Go to the ProWood Micro CA Web site to read complete details.

There are interesting new developments in the Osmose vs. Viance court battle. Viance, a maker of treated wood chemicals, has claimed publicly competitor Osmose’s wildly popular pressure treated lumber formulation MicroPro, which is used by Universal in its ProWood Micro brand of treated wood, doesn’t work as advertised. Not sitting still for this, Osmose sued, and on March 24 a judge issued a temporary restraining order (TRO), forcing Viance to cease its attacks.

On September 29th, Osmose was granted a motion for preliminary injunction reaffirming that Viance must stop its negative marketing campaign against the MicroPro technology and micronized copper wood preservatives.  Viance tried hard to get the judge to lift the TRO and was denied with this ruling. By continuing the restraining order the judge has affirmed the court’s position that Viance must discontinue their attacks on MicroPro.

Both Osmose and Viance have sought injunctions against one other. They are almost mirrors of each another, both accusing the other of misleading statements and false advertising. The judge said “yes” to Osmose and “no” to Viance. Emphatically so, if you read the court order, available here: http://www.treatedwoodtruth.com/pdf/09-29-09-USDC-188-Order-on-Preliminary-Injunction-Osmose-vs-Viance.pdf

Of significance is the fact that Viance does not have any details of this latest ruling, with the exception of their own press release, on their Web site. The fact that the latest court order cannot be found there raises the question, "Why not?"

Various industry publications are lining up with Osmose on this issue. Their comments can be found here:

http://www.prosalesmagazine.com/industry-news.asp?referer=rss427&sectionID=427&articleID=1087411

And here:

http://www.remodeling.hw.net/blogs/postdetails.aspx?BlogId=tedsremodelingblog&postId=89675

Documents related to this case can be found on the treatedwoodtruth.com site, here: http://www.treatedwoodtruth.com/index.php

As the nation’s leading pressure treated lumber producer, we’re often contacted by fledgling companies seeking to gain a market foothold with a new wood preservative product or technology. Our staff of chemical engineers and wood technologists evaluates each new product opportunity with close scrutiny given to the efficacy, safety and value inherent in the new process or technology.

We manufacture for our customers only those products that pass our own very rigorous testing methods. Those products include the ProWood family of pressure treated lumber brands. Some products that don’t meet our high manufacturing and selling standards – whether for reasons of effectiveness, value or warranty concerns – end up in the general marketplace, regardless of our judgment.

Occasionally we receive an inquiry from one of our customers to quote a job that requires a product we have previously tested and don’t necessarily recommend. As a loyal supplier to that customer we will supply the job, while specifically disclaiming any liability in the event of the failure of that product to perform.

A recent example of this is our single-order agreement to sell a product called BluWood to one of our customers. BluWood is not a product we would recommend for its intended use but the specification in the building plan called for it. UFP will ship lumber to a BluWood facility for treatment and from there it will be shipped to UFP’s customer. Without our prior knowledge, EcoBlue, the company that makes BluWood, put out a press release announcing the order for this one job, while intimating an ongoing and growing relationship between our companies. This is not the case and we have asked EcoBlue to retract those statements that would lead the reader to infer that the two companies enjoy an ongoing partnership. We sold the product to our customer because it was specified and not because we advocated its use. Finally, there is no distribution agreement between EcoBlue and UFP, nor are there plans to create one.

Your mid-summer outdoor pursuits may find you wandering pressure treated docks, boardwalks and nature path bridges. The posts supporting these structures are often sunk in water. Speculation regarding exposing aquatic wildlife to the chemicals used to treat the wood has led in some cases to concerns about the use of pressure treated wood in these applications.

In a recently published article, Dr. Kenneth Brooks, of Aquatic Environmental Sciences, presented his conclusions regarding this concern after studying the environmental response to pressure treated lumber over the last 17 years. As Dr. Brooks states in the article, “In 14 of 15 risk assessments, no significant adverse affects to the environment were documented. In fact, invertebrate communities were more diverse and abundant near these (pressure treated lumber) structures than at nearby reference locations.”

The newest, most technologically advanced pressure treatment formula—such as that used in ProWood Micro CA—is micronized copper azole. According to testing performed by Scientific Certification Systems, this new formulation has achieved a 90-99% reduction in copper release in aquatic and terrestrial environments. In addition, the copper in ProWood Micro CA bonds readily to organic matter in the soil. The copper becomes biologically inactive, thus causing no ecological impacts.

Continuous improvement through better technology is helping pressure treated lumber become an even more sustainable product, with no decline in performance.

With the recession in full swing home gardening is making a comeback. Vegetable lovers with diminished means are finding that a little more green in the pocket is worth a bit of toil in the soil. A good choice for many backyard growers is a raised garden bed. The perfect building material for raised beds is pressure treated lumber. It’s economical, easy to work and safe to use in gardening applications. The new micronized copper formulations, including ProWood Micro CA, use a treatment process that has earned Environmentally Preferred Product status from Scientific Certification Systems. This new formulation also has a lighter, fresher appearance compared to other formulations and is less corrosive to fasteners.  

 
According to Becky Wern, Master Gardener with the Duvall County
Agricultural Extension Service and the University of Florida, today's pressure treated lumber "is safe to use around children and animals and for gardens with edibles."
 

Don’t burn or compost pressure treated wood. Once you’re finished building the bed, your pressure treated wood scraps and sawdust can be land-filled along with ordinary household trash.

When you think of sustainable building products what sort of products come to mind? Solar panels? Super-efficient insulation? Naturally. But when you consider the total life cycle analysis - the true measure of a product's greenness - you find wood measures up better than just about anything. An especially sustainable product choice for an exterior project is pressure treated lumber.
 
Treated lumber makes a positive environmental impact in many ways:
Less energy consumption - Using treated lumber products, instead of materials like plastic and steel, aids in the fight against global warming. When you compare the total energy costs of different kinds of building materials - including the costs to acquire the raw material, transport it, process it into useful product and then actually use it - wood far outshines its competition.
Save trees - Yes, You read that right. Because it can stay in service for decades, using pressure treated lumber extends the wood resource. In North America, the use of pressure treated wood saves millions of trees from harvest each year. Plus, the process of making steel and plastic involves extraction of non-renewable resources, while trees are renewable, sustainable and abundant.
Recyclable - Once taken out of service, pressure treaded wood can be reused as landscaping, garden edging, steps or many other popular projects.

What about the state of today's forests? Today the U.S. has 750 million acres of forestland. Forest inventory, the number of trees still standing after mortality and harvesting, increased by 49% between 1953 and 2006.

Every day more than 1.7 million trees are planted in the U.S. – 4 trees per person per year. There are 12 million more acres of forest in the U.S. today than there were 20 years ago.

Pressure treated lumber products are produced from plentiful, fast-growing trees from managed forests, not old-growth or rain forests. The process used to treat one brand, ProWood Micro CA, is the first to gain Environmentally Preferable Product (EPP) status as certified by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS). SCS is a third-party certification services and standards development company. EPA guidelines require that such products have reduced impacts on human health and the environment when compared to other products that serve the same purpose.

Advancements in technology are causing pressure treated lumber to be less green in hue and more green in application.