Norm is a complete tv fool. Not a bad trim carpenter but a no nothing Fool with outdoor stuff. Do Not Put Cedar Posts in the ground, do not use gravel, do creet your posts in.

I remember when a $160.000 house was not refered to as $160 K, like where did that K thing come from???? Anyway the two lumber types will never look the same with no finish . Pt posts will warp,twist,carck exposed to the sun better idea is to wrapp the pt posts in cedar after install. J.

I agree with Norm. I built a grape arbor 13 years ago with 4x4 cedar posts buried in the ground with just dirt packed around them. I did not want PT wood anywhere near my grapes as I like to eat them and don't want to eat contaminants. 13 years later the posts still look great - although I have not dug down in the dirt to see how they are below ground level. However, they still feel solid.

Regarding $160K, K is a standard abbreviation for 1,000.

Kilo also means one thousand. Connection, perhaps?

You still didn't answer my original question.

Here is a link that might be useful: K = 1,000

Thanks Clg it must have come from Kilo back when we were all going to go metric.

The two lumber types will never look the same weathered with no finish like I said.Same deal with wrapping the posts then they will weather the same.

In the long hystory of pt lumber begining with cca all the way to micro pro there has never been even one verified case of Anyone or Anything being hurt or contamanated by any of them. There was one time when the Treater must have made a mistake far as pentatration goes but even that was never verafied. Belive me if the green mafia could have found even one person hurt by cca we all would had heard about it. In Fact one indepdent study concluded a child would have to eat a tea spoon of dirt right next to a .40 cca post three times a day befor reaching the same risk of drinking three glases of water. J.

"Here is the life expectancy (in years) of some wood fence posts, from the Virginia Cooperative Extension:"

Here is a link that might be useful: Fence Posts

The primary factor in determining rot resistance of a particular piece of wood is the growth rings. Tighter growth rings are more rot resistant. Wood basically rots layer by layer, so a 4x4 with 50 rings in the cross section may last 25 years. The same species of wood, but with wider rings, say 10 for the cross section of the 4x4, will only last 5 years.

While you are examining the ends of the boards as you pick the lumber, avoid any that have the center of the tree, or are very near the center. These are the ones that will split, warp and twist the most.

Once you pick good wood, anchor it in the ground any old way you like. Listen to the fool on TV, or us fools around here.

So Funny Aidan,your right there are a lot of ways in Constustion to get to the same place.

Clg,only thing with that little get up they are not showing the differance between old growth and the second/4th/5th growth we are using now. J.