Irrespective of how large you want your outdoor wooden project to be, the wood you intend making use of is something that you should take into careful consideration before beginning your wooden project. There will always be an argument between treated vs untreated wood anytime a wooden project comes up, and the reason for this argument is for you to know which wood will be best suited for any of your wooden projects.
We officially welcome you to this post which talks about the treated vs untreated wood, but choosing which of these woods you prefer to work with comes down to how you are going to be making use of the project you want to use the wood for when the project is done. Environmental factors that have the ability to affect wood is also another factor that you should carefully consider, and how local area is used is yet another factor to consider.
Significance
The closest anybody can get to natural wood is through the use of untreated wood, unless there is a situation where you happen to fell your own tree. In the case of treated lumber, it is filled up with certain chemicals that makes it less vulnerable to damage caused by boring insects, rot, and weather conditions. Health concerns and durability are two main factors that everyone needs to take into consideration when choosing between a treated vs untreated wood.
You can make use of any of this lumber as long as the project you want to work on is a wooden project, but you should consider going for natural wood if the wood will come in contact with ground water, plants, animals, and children. If you are going to use the wood in an environment that exposes it to excess humidity or termites but you need the project to last long as it won’t come in contact with people, you should consider going for a treated wood.
Considerations
When it comes down to treating wood, there are several methods and chemicals that can be used in achieving desired results. All of these chemicals are used for the purpose of general effectiveness, but so many chemicals over the years have turned out to be less used and less famous because of the health hazards they provide humans with. Pentachlorophenol, creosote, and arsenic are all chemicals used when it comes down to treating wood or lumber.
You should not forget to note that any of these compounds we have just mentioned can be absorbed through extended, repeated, or direct contact, and they end up causing so dangerous reactions or damages inside the body. There are so many chemicals that the USDA has banned over the years as they have been scientifically proven to affect groundwater portability, soil fertility, livestock, and humans.
History
For thousands of years, human beings have made designs and built so many stuffs from wood, but it was later in 1930 that Karl Woman designed a procedure where woods gets infused with chemicals that. The infusion of chemicals into wood makes the wood durable and perfect for several building tasks, and the process of infusing chemicals into wood is what we call pressure treatment.
This process involves loading wood into a wooden tank while depressurization is carried out to get rid of air from the wood. The preservative chemical under high pressure will be infused inside the tank where the wood has been placed, ensuring that all the chemicals penetrate deep inside the wood. This is one of the easiest ways you can treat lumber before use.
Treated Vs Untreated Wood
Pressure Level Treatment Types
The pressure level treatment being used isn’t the same for everyone as there are about four pressure level treatment types present today. The type of pressure level treatment you make use of in treating lumber depends on pounds of perspective per cubic and how you intend making use of the wood that is being treated. These groups are labeled as;
- 0.25 above ground
- 0.40 ground contact
- 0.60 permanent wood foundation
- 2.05 salt water usage
This is how you will group every piece of wood that has been treated, and these pieces of wood will be grouped and marked based on the chemical mixture type that was used in treating them.
Cost
The truth about pressure treated wood is they tend to have a more higher price tag compared to untreated wood, and the reason for this expensive or higher price tag is because of the extra processing used in making the wood durable. When you compare the marginal cost and durability factor of treated wood, there is a very huge possibility that you will end up picking the treated wood.
The treated wood will also be a good choice if you want to make use of it as a building material. This is one of the reasons why treated wood will be picked by so many woodworkers over and over again. You can tell the actual difference between treated vs untreated wood is the chemical infused inside of the treated wood, and you can see how important it is for you to make use of the right type of wood when embarking on a wooden project.
The chemicals that is seeped inside of a wood is for the purpose of protecting the wood from several factors, but we all know that something as good as this is going to come at a cost. The cost here is these chemicals will offer protection to wood but are not safe for pets, flowers, and humans. How can you tell which is better between Treated Vs Untreated Wood? The truth is the better wood depends on what project type you need it for.
The truth about treated wood is it gets to last a little longer compared to untreated wood, making it possible for treated wood to deal with several elements that are capable of ruining its value. However, you can consider going for an untreated wood that won’t last long for that wooden project if you are worried about the presence of chemicals in treated wood.
Most of the times, experts and professionals are better off choosing treated wood because of the level of protection it offers against elements, its longevity, and its durability. This is something you are likely not to enjoy or experience when using an untreated wood.