Do Wood Treatments Really Work? UNEXPECTED RESULTS

3 years ago I set up an experiment to find out if wood treatments actually work to protect timber from rot, decay and wood boring insects. I wanted to test pressure treated / tanalised wood and also self treated wood with a wood preserver product. The results from these tests really surprised me!

Thanks to @ProperDIY for the footage of the rotten fence post

0:00 Intro
0:14 Setting The Experiment Up
1:32 The Past 3 Years
1:49 Why Do We Treat Exterior Wood?
3:16 The Treatment Options
6:31 The Test Results
12:25 Grain Tightness
12:43 What We've Learned

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#woodworking #treatment #preserver

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[davidwx]

Swedish wood technician here. I work with VPT(Vacuum Pressure Treatment) chemicals and processes. When treating at home you will only get a surface coating. The industrial processes use vacuum and pressure to penetrate into the sapwood. Unfortunately for guys in UK, you dont have any third party inspections making sure that the timber actually is use class 3 (above ground) or use class 4 (in ground). In the nordics we have the NTR quality scheme. This makes sure that the timber both contains the correct amount of preservative per m3 (retention) and that all of the sapwood is penetrated (for pine). UK is a market where some of the treaters takes shortcuts and the timber would not pass an external audit. The battens you selected was most likely use class 3 and makes them unsuitable for ground contact even if the treater was doing everything by the book

[anotherbarry]

be careful not to over treat wood, or it may become spoilt and ungrateful

[detroutspinners]

He’s plotting videos 3 years ahead! Talk about dedication to your content 🤣

[davewallace]

My fence posts have been in the ground over 25yrs and are still solid. I soaked them in old engine oil for a week, then popped two plastic bags over the ends and buried them in concrete. Having removed them recently I could not believe how preserved they were.

[catt]

Wow, Keith from the past! I greatly appreciate your time capsule. That's dedication to set up a 3-year experiment and actually save the footage to share with me on YouTube. Gratis

[julianchamberlain]

In ancient times, they used to burn the ends of the wood that go in the ground to preserve them. That would make a great experiment and content.

[jeroenkoot]

It’s well known that if it’s under water it lasts longer. I’m from The Netherlands and in Amsterdam you have a lot of old houses next to the canals, often they are build on top of oak pillars and they often are in perfect shape even after 100+ years due to fact they are in the ground surrounded by water. The main culprit that kills them is if water levels drop and oxigen reaches the wood, oxigen is the killer.

[Sean-llcm]

I saw something on wooden ships.. When it came to the rate of degradation, parts of the hull that got submerged then emerged in a repeating pattern fared the worst. Parts of the hull that remained underwater at all times saw the least amount of degradation. You need water AND oxygen to rot wood quickly.

[clarkfinlay]

there is one other option you could try in the future using a blow torch to blacken the timber it works very well. Something the Japanese done and a lot on cladding

[BethOvertonCPMmidwife]

Just an observation by a 69 year old. I recently tore down an old shed on my property that was made out of pressure treated lumber that was bought, best guess in the 1980's. That lumber which had been exposed to moisture and elements for all these years was in amazingly great condition. So much so that I took the time to remove old nails and salvage it for reuse. The wood was so hard, removing some of the nails was impossible. I don't know how these boards were treated back then, but it is clear the treatment has lasted a lot more than modern lumber.

[joerobinson]

Not an expert by any means but my theory is that; the self wood preserver doesn’t penetrate deep into the wood fibres. Thus creating a water resistant film on the surface. This film seems to actually be acting to keep the moisture in the wood ergo accelerating the decay process. A similar thing can often happen in bricks plastered or painted in synthetic materials like gypsum plaster or plastic paints. Sure they partially create a barrier, but once the water is in it’s locked there with little opportunity to evaporate and ultimately making the bricks break up into powder. On that note Kieth - you’d probably really like a guy called Peter Ward on YouTube who diagnoses damp issues in old houses and helps resolve them! Great video bud! Keep it up!

[corybodiker]

I work at a pressure treating plant and in the comment of you saying the moisture content is high is an understatement after we pull the lumber out of the pressure pot. It’s normally about twice to three times. It’s standard size. It’s unbelievable how much water it could soak up for about an hour, the lumber is like of waterfall with the amount that pours out of it even up to three days. It is still coming out at a pretty good rate. We normally keep the lumber on a drying pad for a week before it gets shipped out.

[nerfherder]

I think you've proved that the sealer you are using is garbage. Any wood that touches the ground should have a preservative that has copper in it, you can get the same stuff they use for treated wood The treatment you used is probably not rated for ground contact. Big difference between a deck sealer and one used for burying in the ground.

[ginojaco]

UK Farmer here... only posts I use have been pressure treated with creosote or left soaking in it for > a year. You can buy creosote from ag' merchants in 40 gallon drums. Wood quality is important, far north tight-ringed pine is fine. Heart of oak, chestnut & acacia are good but pricey - NOTHING beats posts saturated with creosote. 👍

[thewonderfulwizardofozisan]

This was really helpful! Thanks! Maybe put - "3 years experiment" in the title? This is what sets it apart from most other videos about wood treatments.

[KenneyPedersen]

You might not be a trained scientist, but you successfully employed the scientific method. You formed a hypothesis and tested it using a well-conducted experiment and you even tried to adjust for confounders. Even acknowledged the limitations of your experiment.

[bahorized]

Plot twist, the chemicals from the treated sample in the water bucket got over to all samples and preserved them!

[petermuller]

South African Wood Technician here! Much respect for setting up this test 3 years in advance! You might find that after a longer period the results will be even more in favour of the pressure treated lumber. We in South Africa also use the H1-H6 system as I've seen the Aussies state in the comments, most commonly used with CCA and Creosote, although some other options like ACQ are also available. The different treatment levels indicate different amounts of the preservatives used and also very strict standards and rules for the penetration of the preservative as set out by the SABS (South African Bureau of Standards). I did tests for a pole manufacturing plant as a student drilling core samples out of poles and measuring the depth of penetration of the preservative (in this case it was poles used in agricultural industry and treat to H4 standard because it would be planted in the ground and thus be in permanent contact with the ground) to determine if the process being used was still effective. After the results of my tests we altered the treatment schedule and made sure the moisture content of the poles were correct before loading the vacuum chambers. This had a significant impact on the penetration and thus the longevity of the poles. Remember whenever pressure treated timber is cut, one needs to re-apply treatment to the exposed area so as to not leave a gateway for fungus, rot, and insects to get to your untreated core! For anyone interested, more information about the South African Standards can be found on the South African Wood Preservers Association (SAWPA) website.

[loadsamonkeys]

Fascinating. I'd love you to contact Sika to see what they say about this, if they have a reason for the poor performance or can supply their own test results. I've been using that stuff for a while now and kind of wish I hadn't!