I foolishly used some old RR ties as risers in a landscaping walkway. With the hot sun this past weekend, old tars starting softening on the surface, and folks tracked creosote up onto my deck. I can sand it off the deck, but is there any way to treat the surface of these ties to prevent this? Tearing up the risers would be somewhere between inconvenient and really hard.
Tnx
I dought it, maybe cover them with 1" treated, screwed on.
Visit your materials place and get a bucket of stone dust. Apply a thick layer of stone dust on the ties while they're hot and oozing. Pretty much the same idea as the chip seal they do on roads.
You do know that creosote is now listed as toxic and is a restricted use product, right?
Red
its unlikely to be creosote, in newer ties
older ties are less likely to bleed.
i heard creosote is no longer used in railroad ties
You do know that creosote is now listed as toxic and is a restricted use product, right?
Red
--------------- Well, they were resold to me by the local farm supply store in rural WA. I certainly wouldn't buy them again, for my current reasons and because of the environmental issues. Some of my bunch are perhaps older, as they seem bone dry on the outside. They were used in full length as borders for the steps. Some are quite smooth on the outside, and these are the ones I selected to use as risers - they are also the ones with the "surface" creosote. Sadly, I now have this 50' walkway with uniform ties as borders and step risders, and 4 or 5 of them will need a different treatment. It was looking pretty good too.
As an aside on this, wonder if there's any restrictions on the sale of the old ones they tear up. I drive past a BNSF fail yard every weekend, and they have stacks of them (hundreds, maybe thousands) with a big "4 sale" sign painted on the side. Sure hope nobody would try to use them for a cheap dock or anything like that.
If you have a cement manufacturer nearby get a load of "crusher dust," the stuff that is produced as a byproduct of Portland cement manufacturing. I've found that it is a bit better than plain stone dust for this purpose.
"rural WA" is that rural Washington or rural Western Australia or somewhere else? Remember this is the Internet and it has no borders. I'm from Western Australia myself and also have local creosote soaked railway sleepers as a retaining wall but no bleeding problems.
The seller does not know what you will be using them for and probably doesn't want to know. There are a lot of uses where people do not come in contact with the creosote and are probably safe for that usage. Rural barbwire fence corner posts come to mind. When you mentioned it being tracked onto your deck that raised a flag in my mind as possibly getting into the house also - something I would worry about.
Red
The "Oh my God, Creosote!!, panic, run" is/was nothing but a political movement. Yes, you could have health problems if you chewed up and ate enough of the treated wood but short of that, no. Same with the dreaded "leaching".
The ban is on using it to treat wood members, there is no restriction on selling and using already treated salvaged members. Any RR ties for sale will almost always be the creosoted ones and likely will be for a long while to come. Age of RR ties is no gaurantee that they will, or won't, bleed. I have retaining walls (5 ft high) and border edgings from RR ties that are 20 years old that have a few that still bleed. The ties were probably a lot older than that when I bought them.
The OP's problem is with tracking it. All that I can think of is to either cover it up somehow or replace the ones that bleed. In my case, it is the odor on a hot day that is a minor problem.
Harry K
The EPA Restricted Use Pesticides listing lists creosote as having oncogenic effects (capable of producing tumors) and mutagenic effects (capable of mutating DNA & causing cancer). A political movement? Do I take your word it's safe or the EPA's word that it isn't safe?
You could screw on some cedar boards or whatever material you like the looks of. Less messy and longer lasting than the powder type solutions.
The EPA Restricted Use Pesticides listing lists creosote as having oncogenic effects (capable of producing tumors) and mutagenic effects (capable of mutating DNA & causing cancer). A political movement? Do I take your word it's safe or the EPA's word that it isn't safe?
Do they mention any dose or exposure level?
No, but I assume as with all products it would vary with each individual. Some may never be affected and other's could be affected with minimal contact.
As I said. It was a political movement run by the ecofreaks and mommies who thought their little darlings were in danger on the playground. That battle raged for years before the EPA caved in even though noone ever came up with a case were it caused a problem.
One of the problems was the ?arsenic? content (may have been one of the other highly dangerous poisons) in spite of the fact that many regions have that chemical as a natural portion (very slight) of the drinking water.
The truth is that almost _everything_ is carcinogenic given a large enough doseage. Even water is fatal if overdosed.
Harry K
And you would trust the EPA with their history of fraudulent research?
note thats what said about so much, global warming hazardous products, heck even smoking, and most recently secondhand smoke..........
I seriously doubt RR ties still use creosote, and the new power pole just installed doesnt have the tell tail creosote appearance either
NO, nothing is treated with creosote any more.
Harry K
Creosote is still legal and widely available in Australia (and my State of WA). See
Thanks. I checked your cites and found the discussions interesting in that they support my position that the 'danger' of it is marginal at best.
I could not find anything in any of the four cites that discuss the legality of use. Could you point it out? I am hoping you are right but the "in the state of WA" doesn't sound right as the ban was a federal, not state law and thus WA should be included. I didn't dig into any of the 'side' links on those pages so it may have been in their someplace.
Harry K
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