new to me & FYI

[dadiOH]

What is? Thermally treated wood.

I was at a yard buying lumber earlier today and they had some thermally treated ash. Dark brown, through and through.

He had a small piece he had finished and it was drop dead gorgeous...black in the "grain area", deep brown elsewhere.

I did a bit of Googling and it seems the treatment carmalizes the sugars in the wood resulting in much increase stability, much more water resistance and an outdoor life of 25 years without chemicals.

More...

[-MIKE-]

I used bamboo plywood to build some cabinetry in our bathroom(s) remodel at the old place. It was darkened throughout with a patented process I suspect is similar to what referenced.

[krw]

In a previous house, we put down "caramelized" bamboo flooring. It too was darkened all the way through. That was some nice stuff. In our last place, the contractor put in a lighter bamboo and it didn't hold up nearly as well. Not sure if the caramelization made it harder but it sure made it better looking.

[John McCoy]

"dadiOH" wrote in news:mdt36r$9md$ [e-mail]:

They have been doing it in Europe for a while now. I have seen pictures of a quite large wood truss bridge in (I think) the Netherlands built with it, with no chemical preservatives used at all.

That said, I think the jury is still out on how well it compares with pressure-treated wood.

(it occurs to me that fire-hardening wood for spears was known to our cave-man ancestors, so I guess nothing is really new).

John

[Leon]

It is a relatively new process for changing the chemical make up of wood. I ran across it at Lowes 5~6 years ago when looking for a replacement door jam for an exterior door. The door jam is resistant to rot and bugs. A little more recently I have seen it at Rockler in 4~5 color variations. Blue, green, yellowish, brown, black. IIRC It is a pretty cool process that seems environmentally safe compared to traditional PT wood for out door applications.

[Puckdropper]

"dadiOH" wrote in news:mdt36r$9md$ [e-mail]:

Cool! Looks like the drawbacks are that it splits easier and galvanized fasteners aren't recommended (that might make a difference if screwing heat treated wood into pressure treated wood like on a deck--but stainless steel fasteners aren't too expensive in quantity.) Other than that, it looks like a pretty good upgrade... especially for exterior use.

I'll have to do some looking to see how it compares in price to pressure treated wood. I've got a deck railing that's annoying me because the soaking wet pressure treated does all kinds of things when drying out.

Puckdropper

[Lew Hodgett]

----------------------------------------- If you are going to buy full box qty (100 pcs) of S/S fastners, Jamestown Distributors will probably have the best assortment as well as price, especially 316.

304 (18-8) is also stocked.

Lew

[Leon]

It has been quite a while since I saw a reference to price but PT was still considerably less expensive, IIRC 1/4 the price of the heat treated was. But that said Ipe is used extensively for decking and almost as hard as a rock. I have read that its life expectancy is between 30~50 years unprotected.

[Markem]

If I am rembering correctly it dates back to the viking boat builders, nothing is new it is just recycled.n

[John McCoy]

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in news:55026549$0$44454 $c3e8da3$ [e-mail]:

+1 on Jamestown Distributors. I haven't found any place that's consistantly cheaper, and Jamestown has always been prompt and accurate.

They're also the best place for silicon bronze, if you happen to have a need for that.

John

[Lew Hodgett]

----------------------------------------- "Lew Hodgett" wrote:

------------------------------------------------ "John McCoy" wrote:

------------------------------------------------------ The operative words are STAIN LESS and that includes 316.

My first choice for an outdoors application using treated lumber would be silicon bronze.

Lew

[woodchucker]

Yea, saw that with Lee Valley's chisels that are made of maple that have been super heated and carmelized.

I was going to try that some day. I love the look.