I was looking at lumber for building raised beds in my garden. I was
planning to use untreated 2x6's for the sides and ends, and pressure
treated 2x4 stakes in the corners and joints. (I would use creosoted 2x4's
if I could find them.) I live far enough north that I don't have to worry
about termites.

Home Depot has some new pressure treated lumber that's supposed to be
non-toxic; it's treated with ACQ instead of CCA. "Alkaline copper
quaternary." Has anyone heard of it? I haven't bought anything yet until
I do some research.

-Bob

"zxcvbob" wrote in message
...
I was looking at lumber for building raised beds in my garden. I was
planning to use untreated 2x6's for the sides and ends, and pressure
treated 2x4 stakes in the corners and joints. (I would use creosoted
2x4's
if I could find them.) I live far enough north that I don't have to worry
about termites.

Home Depot has some new pressure treated lumber that's supposed to be
non-toxic; it's treated with ACQ instead of CCA. "Alkaline copper
quaternary." Has anyone heard of it? I haven't bought anything yet
until
I do some research.

-Bob

Bob
Things you should be aware of with the new ACQ lumber.
1. There are different grades of it. You should be looking for wood labeled
for ground contact.
2. The copper will corrode galvanized or zinc plated screws and nails. If
you expect it to last you will need stainless steel hardware or at least
double dipped galvanized.

Does anyone here know at what level copper is toxic to plants?

Boron treated lumber is another alternative but in high levels boron is also
toxic to plants.

Personally with all I have heard about the new PT lumber I will wait until
more is known about them.

Bill

hollenback wrote:
"zxcvbob" wrote in message
...

I was looking at lumber for building raised beds in my garden. I was
planning to use untreated 2x6's for the sides and ends, and pressure
treated 2x4 stakes in the corners and joints. (I would use creosoted

2x4's

if I could find them.) I live far enough north that I don't have to worry
about termites.

Home Depot has some new pressure treated lumber that's supposed to be
non-toxic; it's treated with ACQ instead of CCA. "Alkaline copper
quaternary." Has anyone heard of it? I haven't bought anything yet

until

I do some research.

-Bob


Bob
Things you should be aware of with the new ACQ lumber.
1. There are different grades of it. You should be looking for wood labeled
for ground contact.
2. The copper will corrode galvanized or zinc plated screws and nails. If
you expect it to last you will need stainless steel hardware or at least
double dipped galvanized.

I was planning to use bright 16d nails. I don't care if the stain, and it
should take a *long* time to rust through a 16d nail.

Does anyone here know at what level copper is toxic to plants?

The copper level shouldn't as high as the bordeaux mixture or copper oleate
fungicide sprays.

Boron treated lumber is another alternative but in high levels boron is also
toxic to plants.

Personally with all I have heard about the new PT lumber I will wait until
more is known about them.

Bill

Best regards,
Bob

zxcvbob wrote:

Home Depot has some new pressure treated lumber that's supposed to be
non-toxic; it's treated with ACQ instead of CCA. "Alkaline copper
quaternary." Has anyone heard of it?

Greenhouses have been using 20% copper-naphthenate preservative on
greenhouse benches for decades with no problems. Cuprinol is one
brandname for this product. The copper is no problem. I don't know
anything about ACQ.

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
Visit my Rhododendron and Azalea web pages at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman/rhody.html
Also visit the Rhododendron and Azalea Bookstore at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman/rhodybooks.html
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman

hollenback wrote:

Things you should be aware of with the new ACQ lumber.
1. There are different grades of it. You should be looking for wood labeled
for ground contact.

None of it is suitable for ground contact. Use plastic or concrete footings.

2. The copper will corrode galvanized or zinc plated screws and nails. If
you expect it to last you will need stainless steel hardware or at least
double dipped galvanized.

Exactly. I've been told to expect old style hardware to corrode to nothing
in under 6 months.

Father Haskell wrote in
:

hollenback wrote:

Things you should be aware of with the new ACQ lumber.
1. There are different grades of it. You should be looking for wood
labeled for ground contact.

None of it is suitable for ground contact. Use plastic or concrete
footings.

2. The copper will corrode galvanized or zinc plated screws and
nails. If you expect it to last you will need stainless steel
hardware or at least double dipped galvanized.

Exactly. I've been told to expect old style hardware to corrode to
nothing in under 6 months.


aside from the fastener issue, madgardener said something about the
fungicide on some new lumber needed to be washed off or something about
rotating stock after 4 months (not an exact quote). I thought that was
kind of strange.

Cuprinol in some awfully good stuff. The green color preservative IIRC
is guaranteed against rot for 20 years if you just soak the luimber
with it first, but I have used it since the early 70's, in the green
color as well as their other colors and its super. I went to Avon
Conneticut one time to pick up a load of Cuprinol at the factory
there, and they had all these various samples of just brushed on wood
with cuprinol and others that were just soaked for various time
periods all out in their test yard, and it all looked great. Back
when I made that trip it was not available in our area, and it was
cheaper and faster to run to Avon, Conneticut and pick up a pickup
truck load than it wa to have it shipped. I was introduced to it when
I did some work in a marina in New London, Conn, as it was very
popular way back then for use in marinas and docks etc.


On Mon, 05 Apr 2004 00:41:36 GMT, "Stephen M. Henning"
wrote:

===zxcvbob wrote:
===
=== Home Depot has some new pressure treated lumber that's supposed to be
=== non-toxic; it's treated with ACQ instead of CCA. "Alkaline copper
=== quaternary." Has anyone heard of it?
===
===Greenhouses have been using 20% copper-naphthenate preservative on
===greenhouse benches for decades with no problems. Cuprinol is one
===brandname for this product. The copper is no problem. I don't know
===anything about ACQ.

Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

hollenback wrote:

Things you should be aware of with the new ACQ lumber.
1. There are different grades of it. You should be looking for wood labeled
for ground contact.

None of it is suitable for ground contact. Use plastic or concrete footings.

2. The copper will corrode galvanized or zinc plated screws and nails. If
you expect it to last you will need stainless steel hardware or at least
double dipped galvanized.

Exactly. I've been told to expect old style hardware to corrode to nothing
in under 6 months.

Father Haskell wrote in
:

hollenback wrote:

Things you should be aware of with the new ACQ lumber.
1. There are different grades of it. You should be looking for wood
labeled for ground contact.

None of it is suitable for ground contact. Use plastic or concrete
footings.

2. The copper will corrode galvanized or zinc plated screws and
nails. If you expect it to last you will need stainless steel
hardware or at least double dipped galvanized.

Exactly. I've been told to expect old style hardware to corrode to
nothing in under 6 months.


aside from the fastener issue, madgardener said something about the
fungicide on some new lumber needed to be washed off or something about
rotating stock after 4 months (not an exact quote). I thought that was
kind of strange.

Cuprinol in some awfully good stuff. The green color preservative IIRC
is guaranteed against rot for 20 years if you just soak the luimber
with it first, but I have used it since the early 70's, in the green
color as well as their other colors and its super. I went to Avon
Conneticut one time to pick up a load of Cuprinol at the factory
there, and they had all these various samples of just brushed on wood
with cuprinol and others that were just soaked for various time
periods all out in their test yard, and it all looked great. Back
when I made that trip it was not available in our area, and it was
cheaper and faster to run to Avon, Conneticut and pick up a pickup
truck load than it wa to have it shipped. I was introduced to it when
I did some work in a marina in New London, Conn, as it was very
popular way back then for use in marinas and docks etc.


On Mon, 05 Apr 2004 00:41:36 GMT, "Stephen M. Henning"
wrote:

===zxcvbob wrote:
===
=== Home Depot has some new pressure treated lumber that's supposed to be
=== non-toxic; it's treated with ACQ instead of CCA. "Alkaline copper
=== quaternary." Has anyone heard of it?
===
===Greenhouses have been using 20% copper-naphthenate preservative on
===greenhouse benches for decades with no problems. Cuprinol is one
===brandname for this product. The copper is no problem. I don't know
===anything about ACQ.

Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

(Roy) wrote:

Cuprinol in some awfully good stuff. The green color preservative IIRC
is guaranteed against rot for 20 years if you just soak the luimber
with it first, but I have used it since the early 70's, in the green
color as well as their other colors and its super.

The green is 20% copper naphthenate and is recommended for greenhouse
uses. The other colors are other chemicals.

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
Visit my Rhododendron and Azalea web pages at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman/rhody.html
Also visit the Rhododendron and Azalea Bookstore at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman/rhodybooks.html
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman

(Roy) wrote:

Cuprinol in some awfully good stuff. The green color preservative IIRC
is guaranteed against rot for 20 years if you just soak the luimber
with it first, but I have used it since the early 70's, in the green
color as well as their other colors and its super.

The green is 20% copper naphthenate and is recommended for greenhouse
uses. The other colors are other chemicals.

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
Visit my Rhododendron and Azalea web pages at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman/rhody.html
Also visit the Rhododendron and Azalea Bookstore at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman/rhodybooks.html
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman