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Need help re: warping of pressure treated wood fence homer2654 08-05-2006
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Posted by homer2654 on August 5, 2006, 8:22 pm
OK, I just built a fence out of pressure treated wood (the crap from
Home Depot which is not redried) a couple of weeks ago. It's an infill
type fence using the rough hewn dog-eared slats cut to about 5-6 feet
long held in only at the top and bottom, no middle cross beam. Anyway,
within several days huge gaps developed between the slats, presumably
as they dried. I can deal with that. What I can't deal with is warping
and twisting, which has also happened.

My questions to you guys with pressure treated wood experience:

1. Can I avoid shrinkage, warping, and twisting if I use special
pressure treated + redried wood and immediately stain it, or does
redried wood also shrink and warp to some extent?

2. Will I avoid shrinkage, warping, and twisting if I use the non
re-dried wood from HD and immediately seal it (even though it's wet)
with sealers approved for immediate sealing, like Wolman's "raincoat?",
or will it still shrink etc?

Thanks in advance


Radiant Heat 468x60
Posted by Robert Allison on August 6, 2006, 5:17 pm
homer2654 wrote:

> OK, I just built a fence out of pressure treated wood (the crap from
> Home Depot which is not redried) a couple of weeks ago. It's an infill
> type fence using the rough hewn dog-eared slats cut to about 5-6 feet
> long held in only at the top and bottom, no middle cross beam. Anyway,
> within several days huge gaps developed between the slats, presumably
> as they dried. I can deal with that. What I can't deal with is warping
> and twisting, which has also happened.
>
> My questions to you guys with pressure treated wood experience:
>
> 1. Can I avoid shrinkage, warping, and twisting if I use special
> pressure treated + redried wood and immediately stain it, or does
> redried wood also shrink and warp to some extent?
>
> 2. Will I avoid shrinkage, warping, and twisting if I use the non
> re-dried wood from HD and immediately seal it (even though it's wet)
> with sealers approved for immediate sealing, like Wolman's "raincoat?",
> or will it still shrink etc?
>
> Thanks in advance
>

You have discovered why I will NOT install treated pickets on
a fence. It will warp and then I will get complaints. Then,
even if there were no complaints, someone will ask the owners
who built their fence and they will give out my company name.

I made an attempt to use treated pickets on a fence with fair
results. We ran four horizontal rails, then carefully screwed
each picket. The results were the best you could get with
pressure treated fencing. Of course, the extra cost for the
added rails, plus the extra care (and time) to screw rather
than nail caused the final product to cost more than a cedar
picket fence would have cost.

--
Robert Allison        
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX

Posted by homer2654 on August 6, 2006, 8:22 pm
Robert, So if you don't use treated pickets, what do you use? Cedar? I
guess cedar doesn't warp as much or at all?

I didn't have the benefit of being able to use four horizontal rails,
which would probably help as you've said. Here's the fence I built (I
copied someone's idea):

http://www.educ.sfu.ca/kegan/sketchbig.jpeg

I suppose I could use horizontal rails on the backside of the fence
that faces my neighbor to align the bowing planks, or maybe I should
scrap them and go buy a bunch of cedar planks?

Anyway thanks for the help and any more comments you guys might have.









> You have discovered why I will NOT install treated pickets on
> a fence. It will warp and then I will get complaints. Then,
> even if there were no complaints, someone will ask the owners
> who built their fence and they will give out my company name.
>
> I made an attempt to use treated pickets on a fence with fair
> results. We ran four horizontal rails, then carefully screwed
> each picket. The results were the best you could get with
> pressure treated fencing. Of course, the extra cost for the
> added rails, plus the extra care (and time) to screw rather
> than nail caused the final product to cost more than a cedar
> picket fence would have cost.
>
> --
> Robert Allison        
> Rimshot, Inc.
> Georgetown, TX


Posted by Robert Allison on August 7, 2006, 9:55 am
homer2654 wrote:
> Robert, So if you don't use treated pickets, what do you use? Cedar? I
> guess cedar doesn't warp as much or at all?
>
> I didn't have the benefit of being able to use four horizontal rails,
> which would probably help as you've said. Here's the fence I built (I
> copied someone's idea):
>
> http://www.educ.sfu.ca/kegan/sketchbig.jpeg
>
> I suppose I could use horizontal rails on the backside of the fence
> that faces my neighbor to align the bowing planks, or maybe I should
> scrap them and go buy a bunch of cedar planks?
>
> Anyway thanks for the help and any more comments you guys might have.
>

With a fence like that, you can use anything you want for the
pickets. The most durable and stable would be cedar or
redwood. You could also use cypress, but it is more prone to
warping than the others.

I can tell you that you will probably never be happy with
treated pickets unless you upsize to 5/4 or 2x material. Even
then you are going to have to lay them out and cull the warped
ones.

>
>>You have discovered why I will NOT install treated pickets on
>>a fence. It will warp and then I will get complaints. Then,
>>even if there were no complaints, someone will ask the owners
>>who built their fence and they will give out my company name.
>>
>>I made an attempt to use treated pickets on a fence with fair
>>results. We ran four horizontal rails, then carefully screwed
>>each picket. The results were the best you could get with
>>pressure treated fencing. Of course, the extra cost for the
>>added rails, plus the extra care (and time) to screw rather
>>than nail caused the final product to cost more than a cedar
>>picket fence would have cost.
>>
>>--
>>Robert Allison        
>>Rimshot, Inc.
>>Georgetown, TX
>
>


--
Robert Allison        
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX

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