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It is safe to use old decking to make veg planters?
Hi,
I am just about to have a new patio built on the back of my house which will involve removing a small decking area. The decking area was built sometime before I moved into the house 3 and a half years ago. The decking wood looks like it could make several movable raised planters for me to grow vegetables in on the new patio (I don't want to put the veg in the earth as I have no idea what it has been treated with in the past). This has the potential of saving me 70 quid per planter, as well as reusing materials rather than throwing them out in a builders skip. I have been reading up on pressure treated wood and it's dangers and obviously don't want to grow veg that could poison us. And so, finally to my question: Is there a way to find out if the decking wood was treated with CCA without sending it to a lab, and if there isn't does anyone know of a lab that doesn't cost a fortune to test such a thing? Many thanks for any advice on this. Bean |
Quote:
I have just checked back to see if anyone has left any replies to discover that I have incorrectly worded the subject on the post. I fell at the first word. The subject should read: "Is it safe to use old decking to make veg planters?" Sorry! |
It is safe to use old decking to make veg planters?
Bean wrote in news:Bean.7fd6d16
@gardenbanter.co.uk: Hi, I am just about to have a new patio built on the back of my house which will involve removing a small decking area. The decking area was built sometime before I moved into the house 3 and a half years ago. The decking wood looks like it could make several movable raised planters for me to grow vegetables in on the new patio (I don't want to put the veg in the earth as I have no idea what it has been treated with in the past). This has the potential of saving me 70 quid per planter, as well as reusing materials rather than throwing them out in a builders skip. I have been reading up on pressure treated wood and it's dangers and obviously don't want to grow veg that could poison us. And so, finally to my question: Is there a way to find out if the decking wood was treated with CCA without sending it to a lab, and if there isn't does anyone know of a lab that doesn't cost a fortune to test such a thing? Many thanks for any advice on this. Bean Bit of a puzzler this. If you got a splinter say in your finger, or a child fell on it and got a splinter from it surely that would be worse than using it as a planter? As a carpenter and joiner I have probably had lots and lots of splinters that I never knew I had from this type of timber, as all types of timber, its part of the job as your hands get harder and you only notice them when they fester. Chromated Copper Arsenate can lead to arsenic poisoning and I know of no test you can do, so if you are worried GET RID or you could make something else from it which will not be in contact with food or food chain. You will never be at ease not knowing. If it were me I would not use it as you suggest, just to be on the safe side. Baz |
It is safe to use old decking to make veg planters?
On 21/03/2011 16:32, Bean wrote:
Hi, I am just about to have a new patio built on the back of my house which will involve removing a small decking area. The decking area was built sometime before I moved into the house 3 and a half years ago. The decking wood looks like it could make several movable raised planters for me to grow vegetables in on the new patio (I don't want to put the veg in the earth as I have no idea what it has been treated with in the past). This has the potential of saving me 70 quid per planter, as well as reusing materials rather than throwing them out in a builders skip. I have been reading up on pressure treated wood and it's dangers and obviously don't want to grow veg that could poison us. And so, finally to my question: Is there a way to find out if the decking wood was treated with CCA without sending it to a lab, and if there isn't does anyone know of a lab that doesn't cost a fortune to test such a thing? Many thanks for any advice on this. Bean Line the sides with plastic sheet Malcolm |
It is safe to use old decking to make veg planters?
In message , Bean
writes Hi, I am just about to have a new patio built on the back of my house which will involve removing a small decking area. The decking area was built sometime before I moved into the house 3 and a half years ago. The decking wood looks like it could make several movable raised planters for me to grow vegetables in on the new patio (I don't want to put the veg in the earth as I have no idea what it has been treated with in the past). This has the potential of saving me 70 quid per planter, as well as reusing materials rather than throwing them out in a builders skip. I have been reading up on pressure treated wood and it's dangers and obviously don't want to grow veg that could poison us. Gut feeling here is that the likelihood of growing poisonous veg seems small. Is there any evidence (as opposed to www-supposing/scaremongering) that 1. There is migration of the pressure treatment chemicals into the soil at levels that might be an issue? 2. Growing veg take it up in quantities that matter? And so, finally to my question: Is there a way to find out if the decking wood was treated with CCA without sending it to a lab, and if there isn't does anyone know of a lab that doesn't cost a fortune to test such a thing? If you are bothered about it, line the planters with heavy duty polythene sheeting would seem to be a sensible route forward. -- Chris French |
It is safe to use old decking to make veg planters?
Malcolm wrote in news:4j3ip.197054$ud6.47209
@newsfe19.ams2: Line the sides with plastic sheet Malcolm Not suitable really, not worth risking as the copper and arsenic can and does leach through. It really is dangerous. Please at least humour me on this and don't sublimilarly poison yourselves, at least till Chromated Copper Arsenate can be certified safe in all circumstances. Baz |
It is safe to use old decking to make veg planters?
chris French wrote in
: In message , Bean writes Hi, I am just about to have a new patio built on the back of my house which will involve removing a small decking area. The decking area was built sometime before I moved into the house 3 and a half years ago. The decking wood looks like it could make several movable raised planters for me to grow vegetables in on the new patio (I don't want to put the veg in the earth as I have no idea what it has been treated with in the past). This has the potential of saving me 70 quid per planter, as well as reusing materials rather than throwing them out in a builders skip. I have been reading up on pressure treated wood and it's dangers and obviously don't want to grow veg that could poison us. Gut feeling here is that the likelihood of growing poisonous veg seems small. Is there any evidence (as opposed to www-supposing/scaremongering) that 1. There is migration of the pressure treatment chemicals into the soil at levels that might be an issue? 2. Growing veg take it up in quantities that matter? And so, finally to my question: Is there a way to find out if the decking wood was treated with CCA without sending it to a lab, and if there isn't does anyone know of a lab that doesn't cost a fortune to test such a thing? If you are bothered about it, line the planters with heavy duty polythene sheeting would seem to be a sensible route forward. That might be your belief, but might not be true. As always, be safe, not sorry. A few quid saved is always good but not where safety is concerned. I am always gobsmacked when people put money in front of safety, and often childrens safety. Would you REALLY put your familly at risk? No matter how small the risk is? Baz |
It is safe to use old decking to make veg planters?
In message , Baz
writes chris French wrote in k: In message , Bean writes Hi, I am just about to have a new patio built on the back of my house which will involve removing a small decking area. The decking area was built sometime before I moved into the house 3 and a half years ago. The decking wood looks like it could make several movable raised planters for me to grow vegetables in on the new patio (I don't want to put the veg in the earth as I have no idea what it has been treated with in the past). This has the potential of saving me 70 quid per planter, as well as reusing materials rather than throwing them out in a builders skip. I have been reading up on pressure treated wood and it's dangers and obviously don't want to grow veg that could poison us. Gut feeling here is that the likelihood of growing poisonous veg seems small. Is there any evidence (as opposed to www-supposing/scaremongering) that 1. There is migration of the pressure treatment chemicals into the soil at levels that might be an issue? 2. Growing veg take it up in quantities that matter? And so, finally to my question: Is there a way to find out if the decking wood was treated with CCA without sending it to a lab, and if there isn't does anyone know of a lab that doesn't cost a fortune to test such a thing? If you are bothered about it, line the planters with heavy duty polythene sheeting would seem to be a sensible route forward. That might be your belief, but might not be true. True, it might not. As always, be safe, not sorry. There is no such thing as absolute safety. A few quid saved is always good but not where safety is concerned. I am always gobsmacked when people put money in front of safety, and often childrens safety. Oh! think of the children !! Would you REALLY put your familly at risk? Yup, do it everyday. No matter how small the risk is? Yes, my family is a risk every day, nothing is absolutely safe. Everyone makes such judgements (generally quite badly) about the risks of their activities. We make judgements about how to spend our money, risk might be part of that. The car we most use as a family is over 10 years old, so a new car might be marginally safer for the passengers, should I be buying a new car because of that small increased risk? We have a pond in our garden, it is uncovered, our children are 6 and 10 and old enough to understand about the dangers, but there is some small risk that one could fall, bash their head on the surrounding wall (which they like to stand on), knock them selves unconscious, fall into the pond and drown. Should we spend the money to fill in the pond and remove the wall? Should we spend the money to cut down the trees in the garden, in case they climb them and fall out and break their necks. -- Chris French |
It is safe to use old decking to make veg planters?
In message , Baz
writes Malcolm wrote in news:4j3ip.197054$ud6.47209 : Line the sides with plastic sheet Malcolm Not suitable really, not worth risking as the copper and arsenic can and does leach through. It really is dangerous. Whilst there are certainly concerns about health risks associated with CCA treated timber. Hence the restrictions on it's use introduced a while back, to claim that reusing these boards 'really is dangerous' (which to me implies a significantly increased level of risk) doesn't seem to be born out by any evidence I've read. Please at least humour me on this and don't sublimilarly poison yourselves, at least till Chromated Copper Arsenate can be certified safe in all circumstances. Nothing can be certified safe in all circumstances, better give up living -- Chris French |
It is safe to use old decking to make veg planters?
chris French wrote in
: In message , Baz writes chris French wrote in . uk: In message , Bean writes Hi, I am just about to have a new patio built on the back of my house which will involve removing a small decking area. The decking area was built sometime before I moved into the house 3 and a half years ago. The decking wood looks like it could make several movable raised planters for me to grow vegetables in on the new patio (I don't want to put the veg in the earth as I have no idea what it has been treated with in the past). This has the potential of saving me 70 quid per planter, as well as reusing materials rather than throwing them out in a builders skip. I have been reading up on pressure treated wood and it's dangers and obviously don't want to grow veg that could poison us. Gut feeling here is that the likelihood of growing poisonous veg seems small. Is there any evidence (as opposed to www-supposing/scaremongering) that 1. There is migration of the pressure treatment chemicals into the soil at levels that might be an issue? 2. Growing veg take it up in quantities that matter? And so, finally to my question: Is there a way to find out if the decking wood was treated with CCA without sending it to a lab, and if there isn't does anyone know of a lab that doesn't cost a fortune to test such a thing? If you are bothered about it, line the planters with heavy duty polythene sheeting would seem to be a sensible route forward. That might be your belief, but might not be true. True, it might not. As always, be safe, not sorry. There is no such thing as absolute safety. A few quid saved is always good but not where safety is concerned. I am always gobsmacked when people put money in front of safety, and often childrens safety. Oh! think of the children !! Would you REALLY put your familly at risk? Yup, do it everyday. No matter how small the risk is? Yes, my family is a risk every day, nothing is absolutely safe. Everyone makes such judgements (generally quite badly) about the risks of their activities. We make judgements about how to spend our money, risk might be part of that. The car we most use as a family is over 10 years old, so a new car might be marginally safer for the passengers, should I be buying a new car because of that small increased risk? We have a pond in our garden, it is uncovered, our children are 6 and 10 and old enough to understand about the dangers, but there is some small risk that one could fall, bash their head on the surrounding wall (which they like to stand on), knock them selves unconscious, fall into the pond and drown. Should we spend the money to fill in the pond and remove the wall? Should we spend the money to cut down the trees in the garden, in case they climb them and fall out and break their necks. OK. Baz |
It is safe to use old decking to make veg planters?
Bean wrote in news:Bean.800b8d7
@gardenbanter.co.uk: Thank you all for your comments. Baz, I think you are probably right, there will always be that doubt if I use the timber for planters, I'll probably buy or make my own from known timber. I think you have come to the right decision. Baz |
It is safe to use old decking to make veg planters?
On Tue, 22 Mar 2011 22:22:26 +0000, chris French
wrote: In message , Baz writes chris French wrote in . uk: In message , Bean writes Hi, I am just about to have a new patio built on the back of my house which will involve removing a small decking area. The decking area was built sometime before I moved into the house 3 and a half years ago. The decking wood looks like it could make several movable raised planters for me to grow vegetables in on the new patio (I don't want to put the veg in the earth as I have no idea what it has been treated with in the past). This has the potential of saving me 70 quid per planter, as well as reusing materials rather than throwing them out in a builders skip. I have been reading up on pressure treated wood and it's dangers and obviously don't want to grow veg that could poison us. Gut feeling here is that the likelihood of growing poisonous veg seems small. Is there any evidence (as opposed to www-supposing/scaremongering) that 1. There is migration of the pressure treatment chemicals into the soil at levels that might be an issue? 2. Growing veg take it up in quantities that matter? And so, finally to my question: Is there a way to find out if the decking wood was treated with CCA without sending it to a lab, and if there isn't does anyone know of a lab that doesn't cost a fortune to test such a thing? If you are bothered about it, line the planters with heavy duty polythene sheeting would seem to be a sensible route forward. That might be your belief, but might not be true. True, it might not. As always, be safe, not sorry. There is no such thing as absolute safety. A few quid saved is always good but not where safety is concerned. I am always gobsmacked when people put money in front of safety, and often childrens safety. Oh! think of the children !! Would you REALLY put your familly at risk? Yup, do it everyday. No matter how small the risk is? Yes, my family is a risk every day, nothing is absolutely safe. Everyone makes such judgements (generally quite badly) about the risks of their activities. We make judgements about how to spend our money, risk might be part of that. The car we most use as a family is over 10 years old, so a new car might be marginally safer for the passengers, should I be buying a new car because of that small increased risk? We have a pond in our garden, it is uncovered, our children are 6 and 10 and old enough to understand about the dangers, but there is some small risk that one could fall, bash their head on the surrounding wall (which they like to stand on), knock them selves unconscious, fall into the pond and drown. Should we spend the money to fill in the pond and remove the wall? Should we spend the money to cut down the trees in the garden, in case they climb them and fall out and break their necks. I wonder why some people are driven to destroy a perfectly good case by wild exaggeration. Let's just tell the bloke to line his timber with old plastic sacks or something, and leave it at that. May be necessary, may not be: but the precaution is cheap and easy. -- Mike. |
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