What's the deal with treated lumber?

[quietserena]

Mods, if I'm in the wrong forum please feel free to move.

We live in a house built in 2004 and the deck is starting to show some wear. We need to replace some of the planks.

I'm told that pressure treated is the best kind to use for this. Is it safe to do so considering my kids go out on the deck barefoot and have been known to get a splinter here and there.

[littlest birds]

The regulations for treated lumber changed several years ago (right around 2004) and it is now a lot safer than it used to be. The newer process is called ACQ, which a decade ago was considered the healthier alternative to the CCA wood that leached arsenic FWIW.

Some people still avoid it. There are still some precautions for cutting. I wouldn't eat off of it--and of course kids eat off of and touch everything with hands which go into mouths.

We use treated wood for posts that are actually in the ground. But we used regular untreated lumber for our deck surface and stairs. We often sit on them and eat, so I wanted to feel comfortable with them being touchable. We then used an opaque stain over the wood. Of course the stain has its own set of chemicals as well, so is not a perfect solution.

FWIW if you replace with treated wood, it will probably be safer than the wood being removed since it was likely the older type. BTW don't burn the old treated wood--Yikes!

[klk197]

I would use treated lumber for the posts in the ground and then use wood such as cedar or ipe (what boardwalks are typically made of) for the decking and rails. Look for certification that these woods were harvested in a responsible way (the acronym escapes me at the moment). Without sealers or stains, they fade to a lovely silver. The cost is more up front, but there is almost no maintenance required. The grains of these woods are very very tight so splinters are unusual.