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lucillle

White picket fence

lucillle
11 years ago

I have read that paint does not stick well to treated wood. Before the days of treated wood, how were the posts which had contact with the ground, protected from rot?

Comments (9)

  • graywings123
    11 years ago

    I did some reading on this after having a fence section replaced with treated wood. You are advised to not paint immediately after the fence is erected because the wood is wet from the chemicals. But after the liquid that contains the wood treatment dries off, then you can paint.

  • lucillle
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Graywings, thank you. If I keep the fence painted, is there any reason that anything except the posts needs to be treated?

  • paintguy22
    11 years ago

    I don't think the purpose of treated wood is to protect the wood for rot. It's more to protect it from insects and funguses. If you stick a piece of wood in the ground, treated or not, it's going to eventually rot. This is why if possible, they put the posts on top of concrete or gravel or stones...whatever they can to improve drainage. Aside from that, keep the posts primed and painted to help them last as long as they can. The primer/paint is like giving the wood a layer of skin so that the moisture will roll off the wood instead of sinking into it...to a certain degree anyway. Really, if you put wood into the ground where rain and snow sits, mother nature is going to win eventually.

  • lucillle
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    For the non-post boards, do you think the insects will dome through the paint? They don't seem to be doing that to my painted house. So do they need to be treated?

  • paintguy22
    11 years ago

    The pressure treatment is done with a huge vacuum machine before you buy the wood. It's not something you can do later. It's mainly for applications where you do nothing to the wood like stain or paint it like for decks or railroad ties. Your painted wood will be fine.

  • domino123
    11 years ago

    There was an airing porch replaced on our home just before we purchased. It was pressure treated wood. I was told to wait a year or until the wood "greys" out before painting. I decided not to paint, but I do apply a coating of thompson's water seal annually to protect the wood.

  • lucillle
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I hope you will forgive, this is not a paint question but I could not see a forum where it would be appropriate.
    I went to Lowe's to get the posts. While I was there, a contractor struck up a conversation with me. He would not stop talking. I moved from the covered area where they were loading to the inside, he started following, then started talking to the Lowe's staff. I got an earful about fences. (And raising kids, immigration, etc.) Anyway one of the things he said was that I would need an 80 lb sack of quikcrete for each post.
    This seems a little excessive for an ornamental 4 foot picket fence. For those who have built their fences, how much did you use per post?

  • paintguy22
    11 years ago

    I would guess there are codes written for each city concerning how deep the holes need to be. Try asking over at the porches and decks forum....guys that build decks are usually dealing with post holes all the time.

  • lucillle
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks I'll ask there.

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