Why the cloverleaf will keep you in clover

By Tim Bean Vice Chairman American Wood Preservers Bureau

ing principle of the American Wood Preservers Bureau. From treatment plant to purchase point, the AWPB program protects the interests of the buyer.

Pressure treated wood carrying the AWPB quality mark is produced only by a treating plant which has been licensed by a certified agency after rigorous inspection of its equipment and several production cycles. 'Ihe inspection agency continues to make periodic unannounced inspections at participating plants and destination points to monitor penetration and retention of preservatives. They also take statistically random samples that are analyzed by the AWPB laboratory to assure consistent statistical control.

Story at a Glance

What the AWPB cloverleaf quality stamp is and why it is important to both buyer and seller of pressure treated wood .. why unstamped lumber can be a problem.

For over 20 years, the AWPB independent third party inspection program has functioned well. At present, almost 300 subscribing treating plants, manufacturing an estimated 700/o of all treated lumber, operate under the AWPB quality mark.

Unfortunately, not all treaters participate in this quality program. Sometimes, when improperly graded lumber is treated, there will be no certified agency inspection to detect the error. There are some reports of bogus, counterfeit, or mill stamped lumber that may or may not meet standards. Because lumber with bogus stamps usually does not conform to American Lumber Standards Committee (ALSC) quality, buyers are not receiving the quality product they expect, and pressure treatment gets a bad name. Lumber that does not meet ALSC grade standards can present a problem since substandard performance may result.

Additionally, the lack of uniformity in the wide array of sometimes meaningless or misleading tags, stamps, National Evaluation Report numbers, guarantees or warranties causes confusion, erodes confidence, and defies logical explanation to the purchaser.

Subscribers to the AWPB program eliminate this confusion. They are authorized to apply the AWPB quality mark to each piece of treated wood as long as the third party tests show adherence to proven standards of penetration and retention. The mark assures the wood will perform properly when used for its intended purpose.

All material produced under AWPB monitoring and inspected by its approved agencies is produced to the nationally recognized and accepted consensus standards of the American Wood Preservers Association.

AWPB quality standard marks indicate appropriate use: AWPB LB-2 for above ground use; AWPB LP-22 for ground contact use, or AWPB "FDN" for the Permanent Wood Foundation system.

The AWPB cloverleaf on the stamp or end tag is everyone's assurance that the pressure treated material has been produced under the AWPB's quality control program. It's a mark of quality and performance that consumers can count on.

DRESSLIRE TREATED wood

F continues to be an expanding profit center for dealers as the number of pressure treated wood Products designed to satisfy customer needs grow.

For example, Weyerhaeuser, which has changed the name of its LifeWood pressure treated lumber line to LifeWood Lumber and Outdoor Millwork, introduced four new products at the National Home Center Show last month. This brings to 35 the number of products in their core group.

The new products are a newell post; a Queen Anne handrail to fit over Queen Anne and other LifeWood spindles; spindles for stair and deck railings in three stYles and finials mounted on square bases.

Outdoor millwork products such as these are precision-cut finishing pieces designed to comPlement decks, gazebos, and other outdoor projects.

The millwork products are pressure treated with chromated copper arsenate to protect the wood from termites and fungal decay, even when they are in direct contact with the ground. All LifeWood pressuretreated products are covered by a limited lifetime warranty.

"The outdoor millwork products allow do-it-yourselfers to customize their outdoor projects with very little effort," says John Cashmore, marketing manager for Outdoor Woods. "For example, handrails are notched to fit snugly over different styles of spindles. Different combinations of specialty products offer virtually unlimited design possibilities, yet are built to fit together easily and will last a lifetime."