Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Chatting => Design and Construction => Topic started by: billycasper on October 14, 2007, 16:50
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Hello,
I am going to make my own compost bins but.
should i use treated timber from my local wickes ? or just rough sawn untreated ??
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pallets thats what you need unless you can get wood cheap from somewhere?
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you can treat them urself with old engine oil n white spirit .... let em dry and dont paint if wet :wink:
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My supply of old engine oil is pretty limited but i guess i could give them a coat of some old fence paint.
My concern really is how they treat the wood. will the chemicals harm the soil or kill any bugs.
If not i'm tempted to buy the treated stuff because oibviousley it last longer.
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nah it s preserved with pressure and the treatment gets right in .not sure if its toxic tho :roll:
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Hey just a thought. if old engine oil will do. will cheap no frills new oil be just as good?
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yeh ..... but old is colouring the wood as well lol :lol:
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Don't use pressure treated wood when growing edibles. It does release some toxic chemicals into soil, I can't remember them all, but cyanide, I think is one of those. :shock:
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nah it s preserved with pressure and the treatment gets right in .not sure if its toxic tho :roll:
It is, and realistically it shouldn't be bare-handled if still wet. My brother (a joiner) tells me that there is supposed to be a 3 day interval between treatment and delivery, but whether or not this is adhered to....? In the bad old days (the 80s) apparently, when it was 1st developed, you could collect it the same day and it was still sopping wet. Then all your hands got sore and developed a rash....! It's Arsenic by the way and nothing can live in it, neither wet rot nor dry rot or anything. Gloves are advisable, unless you're tough and don't mind. Wash hands and don't eat or smoke and all that.
I like the idea of old engine oil and white spirit for wood. It's like the old trick of under-car bodies - never use bitumen underseal alone rather mix the underseal with 10% old oil. The bitumen stays flexible, doesn't dry out and crack and nothing arrests metal rust better than a film of oil.
Getting old engine oil shouldn't be a problem. Any local garage that does service and repairs is bound to have gallons of it sitting in a drum awaiting collection/disposal.
I'm going to price up the posts and planking tomorrow for a triple compost bay at 4 ft cubed per bay, 3 x 3 posts and 6 x 1 planking, all pressure treated, so I'll post my findings and we'll compare pricings.
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Don't use pressure treated wood when growing edibles. It does release some toxic chemicals into soil, I can't remember them all, but cyanide, I think is one of those. :shock:
Hmm, hadn't thought of that. It is Arsenic I believe. Would it leach that much out of the wood even in a compost bay?
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I do not know chemical details, as I hinted, that's the advice i was given a year or so ago. Sorry. :roll:
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I have never seen a health warning on decking,you have more chance of cutting your arm off with the saw than being poisoned by treated timber,
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Are you sure? :wink:
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I know the old pressure treated stuff pre 2000 had arsenic and some other nasty chemical in them but the goverments banned them and after 2003 there is no arsenic in pressure treated wood.
instead its , according to the blurb "ACQ®, which stands for alkaline copper quat, is a mix of copper and a quaternary ammonium compound, nicknamed quat. Small amounts of copper and quat do leach, but nothing in ACQ is considered hazardous by the EPA, and no ingredient is a known or suspected carcinogen. The maker, Chemical Specialties, Inc. (CSI; www.treatedwood.com), uses only recycled copper in ACQ. The wood is expected to last as long as CCA-treated lumber."
this was taken of some building website..
does this make it more friendly ?
timbasher ? if its soo bad how come your making yours out of treated timber ?
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Hello Billy,
So arsenic is out of it now, good news, one always learns.
I think Tim was talking about when they are wet.
It is your choice. :wink:
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you can treat them urself with old engine oil n white spirit .... let em dry and dont paint if wet :wink:
I like the idea of this. Why have I never heard of this mixture before? What have you found the best proportions of the mix to be?
Yep, I've scavenged all the timber instead rather than burden the society finances by buying it. So no pressure-treated wood now, arsenic or not (and thanks for that post explaining the latest developments in treated timber - summat else I've learned).
Yeah, I already had loads of 5 x 3 lengths, all sawn at 48" dead conveniently, stashed away at work. I retrieved them from a cricket club and ground that folded in 2005. Can't think why I didn't remember them. I've inspected the site perimeter closer and the boundary fence on the required side is 4 x 4 posts @ 6' height concreted into the ground and set every 8 foot centres. Couldn't be better. I'm gonna poach a fixing off the back fence using the posts as my rear supports. Angle bracket an intermediate 5 x 3 (+ 1" packer) support post between the uprights onto the fence cross-spars - already sawn and doesn't need to be grounded. In fact 2" higher to create a slope for the roof. The front supports can again be my 5 x 3 beams, and the side and division planking (which I've skip-raided - 6 x 1 floorboarding) will hold all together along with a spar or two. I seem to have got away with no digging of post holes. The existing fence and the ground (it is level) is my anchor.
So I need that mixture - at least the posts can be brushed with it.
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Just wire some pallets together. When they rot, get some new ones.
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gallon of oil to 4 pints white spirit . so its reall runny :wink:
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gallon of oil to 4 pints white spirit . so its reall runny :wink:
2:1 oil to spirit. Yummy. Thanks.
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likes it with a head on :wink:
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Over here, the pressure treated manufacturers drag their feet on warnings, but it has been publically announced that handling P.T. lumber with bare hands is not safe. The home reno shows also emphasize the dangers of bare hands on the wood AT ANY TIME, regardless of wet or dry. The arsenic will rub off on hands, more of a steady buildup really, but what if you forgot and had to wipe dust out of your eyes? Arsenic can be absorbed topically (through skin) so better safe than sorry.
As for compost bins, the only place I'd use any would be at the very bottom to frame the ground layer, then it would be other wood going upward. 8)