Newbie needs lots of info on PT lumber

Hi:

I am a total newbie when it comes to building. I bought some plans for a deck (eventually a gazebo), spent $$$ on tools, and also spent several hundred $$ on PT lumber at Home Depot this spring. (Mostly 2x6, 2x8 and 4x4's.) The guy at HD said I should let the lumber get air and dry for a couple months before using it. (It was soaking wet.) So I put nails in the ends and vertically suspended all the boards from the ceiling of my garage, with lots or air around each board. A couple weeks ago I started......and stopped. The wood is warped, in all 3 dimensions. Some badly, and some just a little.

Obviously I did something wrong. So I found this group, and hope that some of you could give me some guidance. First, are there some websites that give good, detailed info on the selection and use of PT wood? Secondly, here are a couple of basic questions. Did I let it dry correctly? Or should I have used it while it was still wet? Is there any way to get the wood to bend back into shape? All my joists will be double 2x8's. I just used some heavy-duty clamps to force the ends of 2 pieces of 2x8's back together , but it looks like the wood will crack/split if I try to go any further along the lengths of the boards.. Even if the wood doesn't split, how should they be fastened, and will the fasteners hold after I release the clamps? My brother-in-law said to use long deck screws, but they look awfully weak, and so I was thinking of using 3/8 s.s. bolts with s.s. fender washers next to the wood. But all this is based on the wood not cracking/splitting, and I have a hunch that it is going too once I start moving down the length of the 2 boards..

As I said, I am a newbie. Any basic info on PT wood would be __much__ appreciated, as would pointers to any lengthy discussions/primers on pt wood on any websites.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

dave

Reply to
dave
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Wood is usually stacked and stickered to dry. One of the reasons is to minimize warping. (Stickers are the thin slats that separate the layers.)

That's what I do. It will still warp a little, but not nearly as much as if you let it do whatever it wants.

No.

It probably won't split, but if it does, the board was too warped to use.

I suspect that the deck screws would be fine if you add some construction adhesive.

Google is your friend.

Random musings: PT wood is best used wet. It shrinks a ton as it dries, it always warps a little, and sometimes it warps *a lot*. It also shrinks massively cross-grain. I have screwed down wet PT deck boards so the touch, then found quarter-inch gaps a week later.

In my opinion, PT wood is best used for ground-contact applications only, because of its instability.

Reply to
SteveBell

Two mistakes you made. Buying your wood at that place and listening to the advice from someone at that place. You should have gone to a lumber yard and you would have noticed a difference in the quality of the products and in the knowledge of the employees.

The only way to get that wood in good working condition is to cut it lengthwise and/or plane it.

I think that you should only use the PT wood for underneath and get something nicer looking like cedar or redwood for the floor and rails.

Reply to
John Grabowski

The HD guy was wrong. PT lumber has to be used wet. It will always warp when it dries if it is not tied down.

s

Reply to
Steve Barker DLT

Ouch. You interpreted something an idiot said and did something that only a newbie would do. You've learned a valuable lesson - don't ever listen to the advice from a guy wearing an apron without verifying it with someone who actually knows what they are talking about.

Since Home Despot is so ready to take stuff back, you may want to try returning the stuff. They may balk at the time involved or they may not. Try returning ten pieces or so. If they accept those in return then you should be able to return all of it with only a moderate amount of pleading, accusing and stomping of feet.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

But thats not what they told me on TV. They said their "associates" are all highly skilled and knowledgeable and just waiting to help with a smile. I am so disheartened because I can't believe my big box friend would ever lie...

Reply to
George

Either, use the PT lumber immediately. Or, if delivered banded, leave it banded and wait a few months in hot, dry weather, and don't cover it. The latter will warp, but basically not as much and, more or less, warp the same directions. The former is harder to anticipate warpage and/or twist direction.

Use true,actual stainless steel screws or similar wherever possible in any event. Zinc coated steel fasteners will eventually rust. Same material plank nailers will eventually lift, or the nails themselves popup.

Reply to
Dioclese

Dave:

The PT wood you buy at home centers is soaking wet from the PT process. They turn their inventory so fast that it doesn't have any time to dry before you pick yours up. As others have said, it usually moves some and always shrinks noticably. Also as others have said, either use it right away, leave it banded, or sticker it for drying. For certain parts of a deck that will be especially long, visible and difficult to restrain from warpage (handrails, for instance), I buy KDAT (kiln dried after treatment) wood. It costs about 10% more, but comes dry and does not warp. You won't find KDAT at any home center. You'll have to go to a lumber yard for that.

Regards, John.

Reply to
the_tool_man

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