Untreated vs pressure-treated lumber outdoors. What applies?

[Mjärn]

I have spent some time googling about which wood is best to have outdoors. It says different things everywhere, so I'm confused. I plan to build some things in wood that I will have outdoors. I would like to have untreated wood because it's nicer. But when should you have pressure-treated wood and when should you have untreated? And if the plan is to paint the wood, should you wait a year before painting as it says online?

Regards / newbie

 

[ArneTW]

How long is a piece of string?

It depends, as they say... if you need direct contact with earth/water, treated is better.

Free and airy, untreated works fine.

The quality of the wood also matters. If you need smaller quantities and you can pick dense-grown wood, that's good.

Regarding painting and treated wood, some advice about waiting with painting may come from the fact that they are often soaking wet when you buy them...

To get sensible advice, be as specific as you can about what you want to do.

There is no right or wrong when it comes to wood; the only thing affected is how often you have to rebuild/renovate. You don't need to build everything to last forever...

/ATW

 

[Mjärn]

How long is a piece of string?

It depends, as mentioned... if you're going to have direct contact with soil/water, treated wood is better.

If it's freely exposed to air, untreated wood works fine.

Then, the quality of the wood affects things as well—if you need smaller amounts and can choose closely grained wood, that's good.

Regarding painting and treated wood, advice to wait before painting is often because they're usually soaking wet when you buy them...

To get sensible advice, try to be as specific as you can about what you want to do.

There's nothing right or wrong when it comes to wood; the only thing that affects is how often you need to rebuild/renovate. There's no need to build everything for eternity...

/ATW

Planning to build a planter box with a trellis, among other things. It'll be outdoors, and it'll rain on it pretty much all autumn. But I can't have it sitting indoors for a year just to be able to paint it, right?😆.

Can't you apply something before painting to make it withstand the rain?

 

[ArneTW]

I'm going to build a planting box with a trellis. It will be outdoors, and it will rain on it like the entire fall. But I can't have it standing indoors for a year before I can paint it?😆.

Can't I apply something and then paint so that it withstands the rain?

One of the points of pressure-treated wood is that it withstands rain and harsh weather, so any painting/oiling is not for protection but purely visual.

And if regular wood is left free-standing and has the opportunity to dry between intervals, it takes several years before it gets damaged.

It doesn't need to be dried indoors for painting; if your construction is free-standing outdoors, it will dry down to 20% or so, and then it can be oiled/painted.

/ATW