Causal agent
treated wood
Juvenile wood related breakdown of treated wood in decks
Mon, 07/20/2009 - 21:45 — jwinandySometimes treated and even untreated decking boards are used that contain varying degrees of juvenile wood. Because juvenile wood shrinks longitudinally from 2-20x more than mature wood, decking boards with high-degrees of juvenile wood that are restrained by metal fasteners and that are regularly exposed to direct rainfall (wetting) followed by intense sunlight (drying) sometimes experience visual degradation of the top surface and later may eventually experience mechanical failure of the wood.
Avoidance Strategy:
Avoid juvenile wood for the top decking when at all possible in building treated wood decks. Another more practical solution is to regularly treat the decking boards with water-repelant treatments.
Remediation Strategy:
When the problem first is noticed, begin a regime of regularly treating the decking boards with brush-applied water-repelant treatments. If the problem becomes extensive, replacement is the most practical solution.
