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My neighbor's deck collapsed because he used untreated pine for the posts
He told me he saved about $400 on lumber, but after two years the ground contact completely rotted them out. I'm building a small patio cover next month and now I'm double-checking every material choice. What's the most important thing to check for when picking outdoor wood?
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logan7056mo ago
Man, that reminds me of my cousin's shed. He used regular plywood for the floor, not even the exterior kind. After one winter it swelled up like a sponge and just fell apart. You gotta check the grade stamp on the lumber, it'll say if it's rated for ground contact or not. Don't just trust what the guy at the store says.
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park.robin6mo ago
Yeah that grade stamp is key, it's like a cheat sheet for the wood. I always look for the "PT" for pressure treated and the retention level, like .40 for ground contact. Saved my butt on a trailer floor rebuild last year lol.
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elizabethn566mo ago
Watch people skip the grade stamp and it blows my mind. They'll grab the cheapest board that looks okay, then act shocked when their fence post rots in a year. I see it with deck screws too, using indoor drywall screws outside that just rust into nothing. It's like we're all in a hurry to finish the project and forget to actually finish it right.
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