Pressure treated lumber

[sun_lax]

Hey All,
this is my first post here, I'm happy to have found this place.

I am sure that having pressure treated lumber in a pond would be a bad idea, but I am wondering if anyone sees a problem with using it around a pond? Would there (could there) be a problem with anything leaching out of the lumber into the water? Thanks in advance...

Aaron.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

I'd say it depends on a lot of things. I would be wary, but if you had it so that deckrunoff did now flow into the pond you should be ok. On a side note, there are two types of PTL. Red and Green. Green is some really nasty stuff, it is the common one you will find. Red is a bit nicer, and more expensive. I belive that the red is As free, and is overall more ecologically friendly.

 

[zacdl]

A bit of an outdated pic, but the bridge still looks the same:

Thats treated. I think if you kept it in the pond, first of all it wont last as long, second of all if it is really wet alot of the chemicals will get into the water and maybe cause problems. If it was dry and you put it in the pond, it may not be as bad though.

I would say a safe bet is dont put it in the pond.
But around it is perfectly OK.

 

[Guest]

bad idea in the pond. due to it is treated with chemicals. that is not what you want. best thing to do is burn a peice of the wood. and if you get pretty green or blue flames. it probably is bad for the water.

 

[zacdl]

Burning treated wood isnt a good idea either unless you are outside and standing a little ways around it. You can damage your lungs breathing in treated wood chemicals.

Anyways, There is no problem with using treated wood around your pond. If you are too worried, wait until it dries out, then put it over the pond, its a little bit safer that way.

Thats like asking "Can I put a peice of painted wood over the pond?"

Well, no when it is first wet, it would all go into the pond. When its dry there is no problems.

Now completley underwater I dont know about. I dont know what wood does when its underwater 24/7, but I think its not a good idea

 

[greenmaji]

Im kind of the other way about it.. I know for sure it will leach the chemicals if its left submerged but Im not too sure about it being over the water.. LOL

 

[gardentoad]

We built a swing set/play house for the kids and a privacy fenc out of the brown stained treated wood 7 years ago. Five years later we had to replace our well pump. The board of health tests your well water after you replace a pump and told us there was arsnic in our water. It wasn't deadly in this small ammount but we decided to stop drinking it anyway.
Maybe it's unrelated but I don't know anywhere else arsnic was placed near our lot.

I went to the store (Menards) to get a couple pickets to replace a couple years ago and they have stopped selling it. I found online that children were being poisoned from touching it on playgrounds. My kids didn't use the playhouse much so we were okay.
I have read you can seal it and it is safe to handle.
If unsealed rain may wash it into a pond if used for a bridge across it.

 

[saltyc]

As RogerMcAllen said, if you don't let your runoff go into your pond, you probably wouldn't have any problems with the chemicals getting into your pond. On the other hand, check to see if you can get cedar, cypress or a local rot-resistant hardwood for around the same price. We used douglas fir to deck our dock ramp, rather than use pressure treated. We stained both sides of it before we bolted it down-so far it's lasted beautifully (been over 3 years now).