Subject: Re: Making Your Own Pressure-Treated Wood

From: [email-masked] (Steven Moore)
Date: Sun, 12 Mar 1995 08:31:39 -0500

First, my apologies. I wanted to respond to the original posting but
somehow lost the thread. At the risk of repeating, here is a recipe from 
the US Department of Agriculture¹s Forest Products Laboratory which they
claim will protect wood for 20 years: 

Ingredients
3 cups exterior varnish or 1 1/2 cups boiled linseed oil
1 ounce paraffin wax
Enough solvent (mineral spirits, paint thinner or turpentine) at room
temperature to make the total volume of the mix 1 full gallon

Melt the paraffin over water in a double boiler. Do not heat over a direct
flame. Away from the heat, stir the solvent vigorously, then slowly stir
in the melted paraffin. Add the varnish or linseed oil and continue to
stir thoroughly. That¹s it. Apply by dipping the regular untreated lumber
into the mixture for three minutes or brush on a heavy application. If you
want, the wood can be painted when it¹s thoroughly dry.

You may also want to consider wood treated with borax-based preservatives
for above-ground uses. Borates are mined natural minerals that are toxic
to insects and fungi but relatively nontoxic to humans.

Also, consider using substitutes such as cedar, cypress, locust, stone,
brick, concrete or materials made from recycled plastic. Any of these
materials will last at least 20 years with no danger of pesticide
poisoning.

Also, I will e-mail a referenced article I wrote (I own the copyright) on
the dangers of pressure-treated wood for Earthkeeper Magazine to anyone
who sends a request to my e-mail address. Hope this helps.
-- 
Cheers...

Steven Moore - [email-masked]