Re: Cedar or pressure treated lumber for fencing.

[Michael White]

Notal Kyder ( [e-mail]) wrote on Tuesday 31 May 2005 05:55 pm:

I'm about to replace a stretch of fence along with my neighbor. I know > cedar looks beter but what will last longer? Will PT hold up even > better? > > Notal

I bought the treated stuff from Home Depot - the 1x3s(?) that sit on the ground are already rotting away. Go with cedar for those, at a minimum. Or, if you've got the cash, try the vinyl stuff. I made a section of garden fence out of some of the 3' stuff, and it's great to work with. If I had known nearly all of my fence sections were going to rot away when I bought my house, I would've gone vinyl and replaced them all at once.

[Lawrence Wasserman]

It may be comparing apples to oranges considering the new PT chemicals, the climate & soil conditions in your area vs mine, and the type & quality of cedar available, but I have cedar fencing on PT posts set directly on the ground. The posts have outlasted 2 sets of fencing and probably will outlast the 3rd.