Pressure treated wood and selling the outdoor living market

AUTDOOR LIVING is here to Ys13y and you can help your customers to enjoy it more by suggesting that they can use maintenance-free pressure treated wood in their landscaping.

Do-it-yourselfers will find that decks and walks can be laid with no footing of any kind. Support structures of pressure treated 4 x 4 placed on properly leveled and tamped ground is usually sufficient. A plastic groundcloth laid before construction will keep the area weed free.

Use of pressure treated wood is not limited to decks and walks.

Retaining walls, fences, patio covers, enclosures for hot tubs or spas, edgings for flower beds, sheds and built-ins such as benches and tables can all be maintenance-free assets for outdoor livins.

tlAll{IE1{Al{CE free relaxation and fun are possible with this deck (top lelt photol buitt directly on the ground with pressure treated 2 x 4s and 2 x 6s used alternately on a suport system of 4 x 4s. A patio cover [upper

As a lumber dealer, building supplier, or home improvement center operator, you can educate your customers on its value in landscaping. You can help them to understand why this wood is so dura-

Story at a Glance

ble. The Forest Products Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has reported that pressure treated wood can be expected to last 50 years or more when used outdoors in temperate climates.

Begin by explaining that all pressure treated wood is thoroughly dried before treatment to give cells within it room to take the preservatives. When the proper drying is completed, the lumber is loaded onto narrow gauge railway tram cars and wheeled into a long horizontal cylinder where the pressure treatment takes place.

With the cylinder door tightly sealed, a preservative solution is admitted into the cylinder under pressure up to 150 lbs. per sq. inch. This process continues until the (Please turn to page 46) rightl and built-in bench of pressure treated wood need n0 paint or stain. Retainino wall llower lelll of 6;'x 6" pressure treated-posts sunk into the ground has a life expectancy of 50 years. Pressure treated 2" x 6" boards are nailed on the uphill side. Pressure treated rounds llower rightl are available t0 edge flowerbeds. Buried 6 to 12" in the ground, they are tapped into place against one another.