acq lumber

[badgolferman]

I built a privacy fence last year and borrowed a friend's nail gun. He gave me a bunch of nails to use with the gun and everything came out fine. When we looked up the nails on Lowe's to find out their price so I could repay him, we noticed the description said not recommended for ACQ lumber. This is the lumber I purchased from the lumber yard and don't really want to go disassembling the fence to replace the nails. What should I expect to happen to the fence and what should I have used instead?

[Robert Allison]

You should have used either stainless or double hot dipped galvanized nails. You can expect the fasteners to disentigrate and fail. You can easily buy some of the correct fasteners and renail the fence without removing the existing nails.

Here is a little article on it:

And here is a pdf file with the warning:

[badgolferman]

I believe they were full head electrogalvanized ring. Is this good or bad?

[Robert Allison]

Yes. It specifically states NOT to use electrogalvanized nails. The galvanization is way too thin to protect it against the corrosiveness of the new treated lumber.

The full head and the ring shank are good though.

[AustinScoobee]

Dont want to stray too far off topic here but, I am about to do a small shed (myself) and was aware of the corrosion issues with the ACQ. I had the fasteners all picked out when it dawned on me, would I also need double dipped anchors for the slab? ,( the ones to bolt the bottom plate down) Home Repot doesnt sell such a thing. Are the regular steel anchors going to corrode away leaving me sliding (literally ) in the wind?!

Cheers, Gord

[Bob S.]

I have been told that fasteners greater than 1/4" diameter are generally safe to use since the galvanic action will stop before the fastener is fully eaten away.

And since we're on the subject of ACQ lumber, is it safe to use for raised bed vegetable gardens? I know the arsenic treated lumber was a no-no, but since copper is a naturally occuring mineral, is it dangerous?

Bob S.

[none]

Oops... I hope it was not a long fence.

The stainless steel ring-shank nails are very thin, almost like pins. You might be able to just nail in beside the existing nails that are there and then pull the other nails, or just leave them in there.

I just put together about 400' of fencing with ACQ lumber and I noticed that the tags from the manufacture had been stapled on with steel staples, but were quickly falling off because of corrosion from the copper.