Are you selling end cut solution with that pressure treated wood?

By Kim Katwijk and Linda Katwijk

growth of fungus and makes the wood unpalatable to insects. Wonderful! But the prccess does not penetrate the wood completely. Therefore, every time someone cuts or drills into the wood, they expose the untreated inner parts. Untreated wood is simply a gourmet meal or comfy home for fungi, termites, carpenter ants, beetles, and bees. All exposed untreated areas are vulnerable. It only takes a 57o loss in weight, and you will have an astonishing 807o loss in strength!

f HAVE gone into countless lumberlyards asking for end cut solution only to be told that they do not have it in stock, "but (there's that three-letter swear word) we can have it for you tomorrow." Disgruntled, I leave to go in search of it, because I need it now!

Every lumberyard in the West should carry end cut solution as well as educate contractors on why they should be using it. Consider this recent adventure:

When I pulled into the driveway I knew this house. Five years ago, I had bid on a deck project here, but the owner had hired a cheaper builder. Now owned by someone else wanting to expand their deck, I proceeded to do the estimate. I got the job, and a few weeks later I was tearing out my competitor's work. I got to see firsthand what five years of weathering will do to a poorly constructed deck.

From the outside, the deck showed just normal weer qnd tear. Underneath was a different matter. The malicious monsters lurked in the unseen darkness of the sub-deck! Numerous species o/ Polyporaceae (brown rot) were contentedly devouring their favorite meal of wood.

In five to l0 years, will your contractor customers still be in business?

In five to l0 years, will their clients still be happy with the decks they've built? If they care about the quality and longevity of their work, they need to be aware of a common mistake that many builders make. Whether from ignorance as to its importance or from apathy, they fail to use end cut solution on all cut ends and drilled holes.

First off, what is the purpose of pressure treating? The pressure treating process injects the wood fibers with a chemical that retards the

Let's look at what happens in a typical lumber joint. Between the cut end of, say, the joist and the rim joist, or the butted ends of two beams. there is a small gap. Rainwater s€eps into the tiny space between the boards, carrying organic matter with it. This matter gets trapped there, holding moisture and creating the perfect environment for fungi to grow. Fungi cause rot. You may think that fungi come from airborne spores. This is true. However, fungi spores are also planted in trees as they grow. The spores are already in the wood-all they need are the right conditions and-voila!rot starts devouring the deck!

There are only three things fungi spores need in order to thrive: food, moisture and warmth. If you have untreated wood with a moisture content of at least 2l% and a temperature above 35"F. that's all it takes. You can't really control the temperature, and you can't stop the rain, but you can try to keep the wood from holding the moisture, and you can poison the food supply.

Ever wonder why rot is so prevalent in the wood surrounding a bolt? This happens due to the fact that the bolt acts like a condenser, drawing moisture to it. The bigger the bolt the better it works. Once the moisture content of the wood around the bolt reaches 2l7o and the temperature is above 35o, fungi flourish. From the point of first growth, the fungi will spread, usually inside the beams and joists where the pressure treatment did not penetrate.

End cut solution is the solution. Any paint-on preservative that contains 97o or more copper naphthenate will do. I like to use Jasco Copper Brown Wood Preservative. It has a stain that will blend in with the color of the pressure treated wood. For ground-contact lumber, I use Jasco Termin-8 Wood Preservative. It has 25Vo copper naphthenate in an oil base, which reduces water absorption.

Contractors should apply the solution to all cuts using any inexpensive paintbrush. (We've learned from many a lost gallon that it's wise to put a small amounl of solution in a separate can and leave the rest safe in its container with the lid closed, or we end up hurrying to the nearest lumberyard hoping they have it in stock.) To apply inside holes, get a large syringe and a horse needle from a vet or feed

End Cut Solutions

Because preservatives do not penetrate western wood species as well as southern pine, chemical producers may void their wananties unless all cul ends and bore holes on treated hem-fir, Douglas fir, western hemlock and Canadian woods are properly coated at the time of construction with a coating containing a minimum of 1% copper.

Sample products include:

Behr Products #1. #90 Dock and Post Preservative

Cuprinol Green #10

. Dap Below Ground Wood Preservative

Henry Shakeguard, Greenguard

Fields ATCO Shakelast, ATCO Woodlast, Copper Nap

Green's CopperGreen

. Jasco Termin-8, Copper-Brown, Copper-Clear

WM Barr Kleen Strip Coppo-W Exterior Wood Preseruative

Wolmanized End Cut Solution

Zinsser No. 1, No. 2 store, fill the syringe with solution, then insert the needle into the hole. It's like giving the wood a shot. choice for roofing systems.

It may take eight to l0 years for rot to show its ugly head in the un-preserved areas of the deck. The only thing deck builders have to sell is their name and reputation for doing quality work. They should be using superior building practices to convince prospective clients why they should be hired instead of their competitorsbecause decks properly preserved will last longer.

End cut solution is not only for decks, but for any area where moisture penetration might be a concernaround doors and windows, the edges of eaves, and the list goes on. Rotted, unsafe and ruined wood is a very large litigation problem for the entire building industry. We should be doing everything in our power to try and prevent this problem.

A similar family of products, the GL3000 series of IJC glulam headers and beams from Calvert Co., Inc. is another option for roof sPans and flooring systems.

8. Ctuturns are kiln-dried, which minimizes shrinkage and warPing, making for less squeaks and bumPs than lumber. Because they are cut to length when builders purchase them, they pay only for the length they need -a great upselling point for retailers.

9. Otutu-s are easy to install. Although they match the strength of other framing products such as steel, nailing or bolt patterns do not need to be adhered to.

10. ctutu-s are more flexible with I-joist depths than in the past. Newer glulam products like Rosboro's BigBeam are available engineered to match standard I-joist depths, ranging from 9-112". ll-118", 14", 16", 18", and other applications, like wall framing widths of 3-112",5-7I16" and7".

The new sizes allow builders to seamlessly use glulams with other framing applications. Similar products, such as Anthony Forest Products' Power Beam, are also available in 3-112" and 5-1116" widths that readily match 2x4 and 2x6 wall framing.

That's an easy sell to a builder who in the past had to cut the glulam on the jobsite to match the standard l-joist depths.

What's new in glulam

One manufacturer, SPringfield, Or.-based Rosboro, now offers a pressure-treated glulam for wholesalers. Made from southern Pine, it's treated to resist rot and decay by Permapost, an industrial wood preservative company. The mineral spirit-based wood preservative.provides chemical resistance to insects, decay, mold, mildew and bacterial growth. It is a clean, nonswelling, non-leaching and noncorrosive treatment.

Yards like it because it's the only manufacturer-backed treated glulam. Builders like it because they can offer their customers a long-lasting and trusted product. Other treated glulams are treated by an outside party, rather than the manufacturer, voiding all warranties and guarantees.