treated wood...to deck or not to deck?

[lilysmama1124]

My MIL wants to build a deck for us. Her boyfriend will build it and they are paying for it. They are planning to use treated wood.I would prefer cedar but they won't pay for it. We aren't sure we can pay the difference. WWYD? I am concerned about the chems used in the treated wood plus in the stain and with cedar we wouldn't need any but if delay the project until we can pay the difference they will probably get offended/angry and may be willing to do it. Anyone know of a cheaper but still healthy/more natural option?

[lifeguard]

Would they consider only using the treated underneath & the decking boards in cedar? Maybe the lesser cost they would be willing to cover or you could afford the difference then.

My Mom just had to repair their only 5 year old deck 'cause the cedar underneath was rotting. The top was in fine condition.

I'm pretty uncomfortable with treated myself but her experience has us using treated underneath when we build our deck this spring.

[lilysmama1124]

thanks, that's a really good suggestion.

[annekevdbroek]

I was going to add that you can stain the deck - rather than getting pressure treated wood. It will vastly extend the life of your deck and is much less gross than the stuff in the pressure treated lumber. We used opaque stain - it looks like paint - and it lasts like 5-15 years on the deck surface and even longer on the railings and such. Behr makes it and it is water based. I would try to get cedar, or some other untreated lumber.

ETA - not a bad idea to use the treated lumber for any wood that will be in the ground or touching the ground, however.