I've been painting (th grey primer/undercoat) the tanalised rafters which go at the outside of the roof holding up the soffits and slates, but i seem to remember hearing that you can't paint tanalised wood. Is there any truth to this rumour or am i ok?
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You can paint it George - but allow it to 'weather' for a few months before doing so.
Cash
why? what might go wrong?
they were stored in the rain at TravisPerkins where I bought them, I dried them inside by the rayburn for a few days but there may well be moisture trapped inside them and im worrying...
[g]
You are OK. There is no truth in the rumour.
is it that you shouldnt sand or plane it so it stays rough looking?
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I can understand not sanding it or planing it if it is going to remain unfinished. You would be removing the timber with the highest concentration of preservative. But if it is going to be visible, and you are going to paint it, then sanding it doesn't seem a bad idea.
It lessens the chance of a chemical reaction with the paint and allows any excessive tanalising to dry out - and around 6 months is considered reasonable if I recall correctly (age has its drawbacks ).
Nothing can go wrong - other than with the paint work.
Don't worry George, the worst that can happen is that you have to repaint the stuff. BTW, it's not really a good idea to force-dry timber as this can lead to warping, twisting, cracking etc - far better to leave this stuff in a dry garage (or similar) to air-dry naturally, or better still, outside under a temporary covering.
Cash
You can work the stuff to what you want George, I regularly plane the sawn stuff up to some sort of a finish (and joint it [1]) when using it for garden furniture - but you will have to use the correct finish for it e.g:
You cannot successfully use paint etc for sawn timber on planed timber by the way - it doesn't take too well.
[1] When I'm not in a 'lazy' mood, if I am in such a mood (or the work doesn't really need it) I simply use rust-resistant fixings and hide the exposed ones with wooden pellets.Cash
Dear All Not a good move to plane or work Tanalised timber for the reasons stated by Bruce. If, as one sometimes has to, it is necessary then the one method of protection is to dip the planed or worked surfaces in an organic-solvent based preservative overnight particularly if any end grain is cut off and allow it to ventilate until no more solvent comes off ( a week min). The best method is to use a preservative paste but those are normally B rated (A being amateur) and not legally available to amateurs but not difficult to buy if you know how. I would use a Water Repellent Preservative Stain to paint with =3D Saddolins etc
Chris
Not seen the reply by "Bruce" in this thread, nor will I if he posts via google groups (all killfiled to ease the spam a bit).
From one who has used this stuff since the 1970's and 'planed, worked and painted' it (my earliest project is still going strong after 30 years in a number of different gardens) - then draw your own conclusions as to the viability of 'working' the stuff.
There again, there is properly tanalised timber - and el-cheapo tanalised timber, and I'll let you guess what I use - but I must admit that the last time I 'seriously used tanalised timber was way back in 2001 for a couple of fences (no cut ends were given any attention), which after 6 months of weathering, was treated to 3 coats of Sadolin - and two years ago, the back fence was again treated (purely for cosmetic reasons where some trees had rubbed against it) - and the timber is still as good today as when it was first installed.
Also, I used the stuff professionally on various, new-build public works from the 70's on for soffits fascias, boarding etc, and no specific treatments were ever undertaken on the cut ends (and they were invariably painted to gloss) - and neither did any Clerk of Works ever query this lack of treatment.
Cash
Who is not interested in getting into the technical arguments with non-users.
You certainly wouldn't be able to recognise my reply from Chris's response, because I said the exact opposite of what he is alleging.
For the record, I agree with you.
Chaps For the record Where I was agreeing with Bruce was when he said " You would be removing the timber with the highest concentration of preservative." He is quite right. The facts are that Tanalith treatment was until about a decade ago pretty good for protection because it contain CCA copper chrome and arsenic. The heavy metal ions combined with the carboxyl groups chemically and so the treatment was "fixed" as opposed to "deposited". The end grain got penetrations of up to 50 mm. The side grain varies with the porosity and permeablity of the wood - Scots pine good Spruce bad/non existent. It could vary between say 0.5 mm to perhaps 5mm (estimated figures). Thus, if you plane the side grain - dependeding on the degree of initial treatment you remove some or all of the protection. If the fence post is in the air and has been treated with Sadolins or the like that ceases to be a problem as it will not rot but if it is in ground contact and particularly at soil level and 150mm above and below it will rot. Nitrogen salts get wicked up the fence post and encourage decay at this point where the water evaporates out (Ed Bains circa 1976) It wont rot below as it is anaerobic and it wont rot above as it is too dry. If you cut the end grain off and do not treat it the face of the timber is no better protected than untreated timber and depending on its natural durability and percentage sapwood it will rot if wet. These are the facts Chris
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