SidecarBob
Retired & too busy to go back to work
I'm working on rebuilding/replacing the back deck. The old one was pressure treated lumber but after 25 years of weather (south facing) and neglect a large percentage of the 2x4s on the deck were starting to rot and about half of the structure needs to be replaced too. About all I want to re-use is the stairs that I replaced in 2017, the posts and the ledger board bolted to the house.
The posts were originally green pressure treated but have faded & weathered to a light gray. The PT wood sold now is brown (I like the look of it better and I understand that the brown stuff is safer so that's OK) and the stairs are brown so I'd like the posts to at least look similar.
Finally the question: Do I need to buy brown wood preservative to do the posts & ledger board (about 46 sq.ft total) and have the rest sit on the shelf forever or can I use some of the brown end cut preservative I'll have to buy anyway (& have the rest sit on the shelf for years too)?
Or would I be better off to just slap on some of the oil based maple deck stain I already have and call it close enough?
BTW: The original deck was put up by the builder's carpenters when the house was being built and is all nailed construction. I will be using joist hangers and attaching the joists to the posts with lags. The posts were originally set on bricks buried about a foot deep (no 2 the same depth) but a couple of them had settled so before I did the stairs we jacked the deck up 1 post at a time, cut the post off (& added end cut preservative), dug out the holes and filled them with crushed stone (tamped) and set the posts on deck blocks. It hasn't moved since.
The posts were originally green pressure treated but have faded & weathered to a light gray. The PT wood sold now is brown (I like the look of it better and I understand that the brown stuff is safer so that's OK) and the stairs are brown so I'd like the posts to at least look similar.
Finally the question: Do I need to buy brown wood preservative to do the posts & ledger board (about 46 sq.ft total) and have the rest sit on the shelf forever or can I use some of the brown end cut preservative I'll have to buy anyway (& have the rest sit on the shelf for years too)?
Or would I be better off to just slap on some of the oil based maple deck stain I already have and call it close enough?
BTW: The original deck was put up by the builder's carpenters when the house was being built and is all nailed construction. I will be using joist hangers and attaching the joists to the posts with lags. The posts were originally set on bricks buried about a foot deep (no 2 the same depth) but a couple of them had settled so before I did the stairs we jacked the deck up 1 post at a time, cut the post off (& added end cut preservative), dug out the holes and filled them with crushed stone (tamped) and set the posts on deck blocks. It hasn't moved since.
