wood

[Garvy]

What are your thoughts on using pressure treated wood in areas that are prone to poor ventilation,my problems were inthe vertical battens behind the fuel tanks all were dry rotted ,i nknow there would be a little wieght diffre than fir but i would be using only 5/4 x4x32 inches, on 12 inch centers Thanks eric

[On Vacation]

If it all possible, fix the poor ventilation problem by some semi-sealed access hatches. If you are going to use the PT, find a good supplier of dock PT and not just lumber yard PT. The boat you are working on, the weight is the least to worry about.

[bugeye]

Hi,
A few years ago, I replaced the deckbeams and deck on a skipjack in MD with PT loblolly pine. The owner of the vessel had had some especially nice lumber cut(it probably would have ended up as flooring) and treated and then kiln dried. It was really nice stuff! I got a bunch that was left over from that project and used it for carlins, grubs, and some other things on my own boat recently. I don't know if I'd use the regular stuff from the lumberyard, but maybe if you're willing to spend alot of time looking for something with more than four rings to the inch. Also, the lumberyard stuff is incredibly wet when you buy it. I've heard that red oak take to pressure treating very well. That would be some good stuff.

[Garvy]

started replacing with p/t today,,using the clearest pieces i could find,i think it will work great,and i will be adding some side vents to increas air circulation as these bad spots are behind the fuel tanks(not much clearance) thanks for the replys Eric

[Bob Cleek]

There are problems using PT wood for boatbuilding. This post comes up every so often, like the myths that there's some pill you can put in your gas tank and just add water, but the gasoline companies bought the rights and are keeping it from us...

PT wood isn't treated all the way through. The pressure just makes it go deeper than it would if you just painted the poison on. That's why there's those perforations on the surface, to increase the area of absorption. If you cut the end off, or plane or cut the face, you have to paint on more preservative anyway. A lot easier, and cheaper, to use plain wood and CPES it after it's shaped.

PT wood has been treated with an arsenic based preservative. That is being criticized of late because the arsenic has shown a surprising propensity to leach out into groundwater from nearby post ends buried in the adjacent ground. Or so they say. They are experimenting with other preservative blends, I hear. Rough and touch as we wooden boater are, you don't want arsenic floating around your boat interior. I can't think that snuggling up in your bunk inches away from an arsenic soaked beam is really where you want to be. Similarly, working with the stuff, sawing and sanding it, generates a lot of poisonous dust in the air which can make you sick.

I see you are already at it, so may God have mercy on your soul. Still, for my money, PT wood is best left for foundation sills and fence posts. It was never intended for use on boats or around living things. Sort of like painting your kid's playpen with bottom paint.

[Garvy]

i used p/t on a chine board scarf repair and the sistered backing board and have now switched back to a species of fir that thebaot yard owner had pluse he has russeled up some cyprus blanks for the hull, therepaired area is screwed bolted and epoxy glued,after this area is planked i will be saturating the raw wood whith a preservative cuprinal or red lead any other ideas???
eric

[Garvy]

hi again this boat i am working on is a 1979 30ft Garvy Barnegate with a tunnel hull,very stabile ride,has a full cabin and hard top i'll send pix next time eric