Painting Treated Lumber

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user 4883

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I just built a deck and the treated lumber was wet.
When you pound a nail into it, you almost get splattered w/water. The boards weighed 2-3x times what you would expect. I just hope the deck doesn't pull itself apart when it dries.

Now I know I have to let them dry and a couple of hot sunny days in a row would do the trick but, is there any specified amount of time I have to wait to prime and paint the treated wood?
 
Hello KOK:
I think the companies usually recommend waiting 6 weeks.
Glenn
 
I would wait closer to six months until all of the moisture is out. The tint from the chemicals bleed out about that long and will probably show through your paint.
 
I'm going for it this Monday. Monday is the last day of a no rain streak. I've tried to keep the deck dry since the day I built it but, it got rained on for 3 1/2 days non-stop by the tail storm of Ike. It's been about 15-20 days now, without rain. I'm at least going to get primer coats on it, I gotta start wrapping up loose ends before winter. I guess this is the downside of having a dozen or so projects going all at the same time.
 
You're going to be fine.
Treated wood never releases all of it's chemicals, that's how it lasts! Paint it after a month in dry, hot weather but wait longer in cooler temps. Nearly every treated wood manufacturer and many paint companies will give you different numbers but when a deck sits in the sun in warm weather, it dries much quicker than those recommended times.
 
Thanks for the vote of confidence. However, I pushed the envelope of dry a little too much. I applied the first coat (Kilz Premium) and waited about 2hrs. before applying the second coat. About 4 hours later, it rained overnight and into the next 2 days. It doesn't appear to be running off or feels soft, like I expected. It is acutally repelling and/or holding water. Granted that the application was not ideal but, I think/hope the second coat had enough time to cure properly. As far as Mfg. recommendation, everyone will tell you something different. If figure, at the most I painted 3 sides of a board, leaving at least one side to let the wood breath. I just hope the unfinished side won't allow moisture to wick up and push the paint off the deck surface from the inside out. I'll hit it w/two coats of outdoor paint at the end of the next dry spell and hope for the best.
 
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