Pressure treated lumber?

[Jerry Kelley]

Is there any reason a person shouldn't use pressure treated lumber when repairing the framing?

 

Thanks,

[Ad Addison]

Outgassing. The chemicals used are released over time esp when heated.

[Jerry Kelley]

I considered that but being encased by the interior paneling and exterior skin I wasn't sure that it would be a real threat. I'm working on a, "68" Fireball that is far younger than myself and was considering Tyvex wrap both inside and outside. Hummmmm ?

 

Thanks

[Ad Addison]

I might think of using plastic sheeting on the interior. I remeber the FEMA trailers and formaldihyde (SP). If you used plastic and sealed the edges and openings to the interior you would also need to ensure adequate ventilation of interior moisture. Have you thought about using cedar or redwood which are naturally resistant to rot and bugs?

[0l9c7nlsuup1p]

Weight....

That and the same reason it is not used when building a house - it just is not necessary. 

PT wood is for exterior use only - fences, decks, etc...

Just seal the coach well and you're good.

[Tim Dailey]

Keep in mind that the pressure treated wood we all grew up with is no longer being made.   It use to be impregnated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA).   They key ingredient being "arsenic", and it would leach out or "outgass" just like Ad Addison stated.

After DEC 31, 2003, CCA products were banned.   Today most pressure treated woods contain ammonia, copper and quat (ACQ).   ACQ is actually pretty safe, and the manufactures say its safe to use indoors.   

 

On my rig, I used it where water cannot be avoided.  The entry step in my RV is ACQ, and the floor in my bathroom is also ACQ.  

 

After all that technical garbage, I'll follow up by saying I don't think the new stuff is as good as the old stuff.   I just threw away Landscaping timbers that had started to rot, and I'm not sure they were 8 or 9 years old.   I remember as a kid pressure treated wood use to be advertised with a 30 year guarantee.  

[Jerry Kelley]

Thanks to all, guess I'll use redwood around the bottom.

[Old soldier]

Redwood used to be the required construction wood in California. My cousins out there have it in their homes and even their horse barn. Too much consumed, and resultant cost increase , puts redwood out of reach for many. Cedar is, in fact, about equally great for resisting water, rot, and insects. Both have a major flae in that compared for many species, they ate very soft wood and splinter badly. When you but in screws, hanger bolts, carriage bolts, etc, you must be careful about the threads stripping out in the woods. When I use cedar in a project I really care about, I pre-drill the hole, temove the screw or bolt, dribble epoxy into the threaded hole, screw it in and out a few times, remove th screw or bolt, wait until the epoxy has cured, then put the screws or bolts back into the hole. The epoxy coats and strengthens the threads in these notoriously "soft" woods. Obviously, you clean the epoxy off the screw threads after using the screws to "chase" the threads with epoxy. I do the same with oak or other woods on specific interior wood projects (especially when it is something turned on the lathe) but a good wood glue or slow setting "instant glue". The slower gel "instant glues" work very well as they don't soak into the wood before you can get it all the way into the threaded wood. Cedar is a fine wood procured easily everywhere, but it simply splinters along growth rings (aka "grain pattern"). As fir pine: as an okd wood carving friend always says: "pine shouldn't be listed as wood". Oak holds threads well, but is vest when used by a wood worker (not a carpenter) with non-metallic joinery rather tyan nailing or screwing. Of course, no one is silly enuff to use good joinery to build a camper body, but that is a differen concept. If you can lay your hands on bous d'dark (bodark in the Ozarks, or "wood of the bow" to French trappes who named it) you can use that fir anything! Bright yellow when fresh cut, thrn hardens like iron when it dries. Greencut bidark used soon after cutting, then allowed to dry after inserting your screws, clamps down on the fastener. All green woods do that, but with bodark, you do it right and the wood will be stronger over many years. Construction lumber today is what you us only because it's all you can buy. The wood I am pulling out of my Fireball goes completely against what people say about the good old days: not everything back then was better than what you can buy today. But more importantly than wood type or quality is the need to predrill with a slightly smalle bit before screwing things together. Slower, but splitting isn't the big problem it is without predrilling.....especially near edges and ends of boards. What we all need is a giid quality compendium of restoration tools, woods, glues, and how to maximize your work on these old campers. Too many of the videos on YouTube are too amateurish or don't show what is being done....merely a person's backside as they tell you what they are doing. Mobiltec and RV Education 101 are likely the two best on youtube.

[R. Randall Halton]

I have used this treated lumber in the past. The new treatment process seems to endure just as good as the other banned chemicals of the past. Other options for longevity and water/rot resistance is cypress. The tree grows in the swamp and is very durable even to bugs that borough wood. Whats really weird is the PT lumber when dried out completely is lighter than a comparable grade of non PT lumber.