On 05/03/2014 19:36, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
stuart noble wrote:
On 05/03/2014 16:01, Andy Burns wrote:
Pete C wrote:

Oak will outlive treated softwood by decades.

Sorry, but that is so misleading as to be false.

Oak heartwood will outlast cheaply treated softwood by decades,
true, but oak sapwood will not last that long, and the most
aggressively treated softwoods (the old pressure-creosoted and
tanalised ones) will outlast oak heartwood by decades. What am
an not sure is how effective the tanalisation replacement is.

Sorry Nick, I was only repeating what I've seen on television.

Thanks all, the spec of the oak sleepers allows a maximum of one waney
edge, so could be sapwood, but I prefer the look of oak, will likely go
for it.

In direct contact with soil nothing's going to last that long

I have some tanalised posts that I put in 25-30 years ago, and
are still solid.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I seem to remember that in the "Old days" when timber was tanalised it
was vacuum then pressure treated, but from what I see of modern "Treated
"timber it's just dipped.
David