# pressure treated or nah?



## salmonhunter (Jun 4, 2012)

Im gonna start building a wood shed in a week or 2 but I cant decide if I want to buy all pressure treated lumber or just the 4x4's to keep costs down. Im gonna copy boogydaves shed heres a pic
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





also I live somewhat in the city so I have neighbors close and wondering if I should even bother goin to see about a permit or just go ahead and do it


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## firefighterjake (Jun 4, 2012)

On my own woodshed I went with cedar on points near the ground . . . all the rest was regular softwood lumber and boards.


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## Backwoods Savage (Jun 4, 2012)

Copying Dave's is a good idea. Not sure I'd use pressure treated but then, it wouldn't hurt.


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## fossil (Jun 4, 2012)

I'd say that if you want it to last more than a few years, anything that's in ground contact should be treated.  Alternatively, you could install prefab concrete footers (or pour your own) and build up from there, keeping the wood off the ground.  Everything else kinda depends on your climate, but unless it's really severe, untreated wood should be fine.  Whether or not you need a permit depends on a whole bunch of things...local zoning/building codes and your tolerance for risk probably being toward the top of the list.  There may be restrictions on height, setback from your property line, max square footage without a permit, etc.  My suggestion would be to have a chat with someone in local government conversant in all these things.  Rick


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## bogydave (Jun 4, 2012)

If it's not touching the ground, treated wood is not needed.
With snow & rain here, the bottoms of the vertical support 4 X 4s get wet. I'd hate to have them rot out or get insect damage in 10 years.
That's the only part I used treated. It didn't 'have" to be treated but the cost wasn't that much more for longevity.

Mine is a temporary , unfinished shed, It's not on a permanent foundation & kept each sections size just below what is required here for a permit.
I figured it was easier to beg for forgiveness than ask permission. 
So far, no local government official have came by. It's hard to see from a satellite photo too.


That being said; Some research on "building permits" for your area  may save you problems down the road.


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## Wood Duck (Jun 4, 2012)

I'd use pressure treated on anything that touches the ground plus (if I had the $$) anything within a foot or so of the ground. This would include the deck the firewood sits on. Pressure treated woul last a lot longer, and I would not be eager to rebuild the shed in a few years.


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## bogydave (Jun 4, 2012)

We just had rain yesterday. I went & took a few pics of the bottoms of the 4 X 4 posts.
Some weeds & leaves had accumulated around the base on 1 & the other shows the bottom is wet.
I'm glad I used treated wood 
Pics of the back side where the water runs off the roof.


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## salmonhunter (Jun 5, 2012)

well sounds like im just gonna go with treated 4x4's. Il be sure to post a couple pics when im done.


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## cptoneleg (Jun 5, 2012)

yes- it's not that much more- and well worth it .  In my area the difference in an 8 ' treated 2x4 is just a few cents.


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## Ashful (Jun 5, 2012)

Do most of you just sink your posts in a post hole with gravel, making it fixed structure, or try to fly under the "portable" structure radar by floating those posts on stringers or decking?


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## bogydave (Jun 5, 2012)

Joful said:


> Do most of you just sink your posts in a post hole with gravel, making it fixed structure, or try to fly under the "portable" structure radar by floating those posts on stringers or decking?


 
I buried concrete pier blocks, then attached the vertical posts. The frozen ground  & the pallets of wood prevent the wind from taking the shed for a ride.


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## salmonhunter (Jun 5, 2012)

these are the only blocks I could find went to 3 different lumber yards looking for the ones like boogydave has pictured but cant find them anywhere
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




im still trying to decide if these will work or not. Would hate to have the shed tip over in a storm  and ruin my fence or worse do some damage to my neighbors house or something


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## cptoneleg (Jun 5, 2012)

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 This is my woodshed, treated wood, post set in ground, with cement, anyway you want to set the post will last a lifetime and then some.


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## bogydave (Jun 5, 2012)

I think I got them at Lowes.


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## Ashful (Jun 6, 2012)

cptoneleg said:


> This is my woodshed, treated wood, post set in ground, with cement, anyway you want to set the post will last a lifetime and then some.


 
True... but setting them in cement is usually not the way to guarantee that.  They will usually rot off right at the top of the cement slug, if the many rotted fence posts I've pulled in the past are any indication.  Better to set them in compacted gravel, which will drain, and maximize the life of those posts.  I've seen pressure treated fence posts set in concrete fail in 14 - 16 years, in the right environment.

Dig the hole deeper than needed, put a few inches of gravel in the bottom of the hole, set the post, pour in your gravel to 3" below grade, and then use another post or scrap of 2x4 to compact the gravel around the post.


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## MasterMech (Jun 6, 2012)

If your going to set posts, buy a "digging bar".  They sell 'em at HD or Lowes.  Use the flat end to dig out rocks or bust up roots, and use the flat end to tamp the chit out of any dirt or gravel you pack into the post hole.  I've set many a post just in dirt (for wire fence) and they don't move, ever, if tamped in well.  Setting them in gravel is a good idea for a shed or set them on, not in, concrete piers.


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## Crane Stoves (Jun 6, 2012)

I would use PT for  all framing members and the floor (cost of PT is not that much more and well worth it).
I think these guys are right about setting posts directly into concrete (not a good idea), set some of those long bolts in the concrete and gets some of those brackets which the post will then sit ontop of.
In my area they generally say if the shed is larger then 8'x10' it should have proper footings poured (if its 8 x 10 or less then those prefab blocks with brackets are probably fine).


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## cptoneleg (Jun 6, 2012)

Joful said:


> True... but setting them in cement is usually not the way to guarantee that. They will usually rot off right at the top of the cement slug, if the many rotted fence posts I've pulled in the past are any indication. Better to set them in compacted gravel, which will drain, and maximize the life of those posts. I've seen pressure treated fence posts set in concrete fail in 14 - 16 years, in the right environment.
> 
> Dig the hole deeper than needed, put a few inches of gravel in the bottom of the hole, set the post, pour in your gravel to 3" below grade, and then use another post or scrap of 2x4 to compact the gravel around the post.


 

B S mister engineer  I will probably go  knock down the eighty yr old   coral and shed my grandfather built, we are talking about a woodshed not th World Trade Center.


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## cptoneleg (Jun 6, 2012)

Why u cant even spell engineer or moonshine


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## cptoneleg (Jun 6, 2012)




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## begreen (Jun 6, 2012)

bogydave said:


> I buried concrete pier blocks, then attached the vertical posts. The frozen ground & the pallets of wood prevent the wind from taking the shed for a ride.
> View attachment 68161


 
That's what my shed is sitting on. No sign of moisture getting up into the wood at all after 4 years. It's all regular doug fir. By the looks of things I will be rotting before it does. .


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## woodsmaster (Jun 8, 2012)

Just to clarify, there are different grades of PT lumber. You usually have to special ordrer stuff rated for ground contact if it is actually going to touch the ground.


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## gzecc (Jun 10, 2012)

woodsmaster said:


> Just to clarify, there are different grades of PT lumber. You usually have to special ordrer stuff rated for ground contact if it is actually going to touch the ground.


 In my area, Lowes sells "ground contact" pressure treated Home Depot does not.


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## RichVT (Jun 10, 2012)

I've found that landscape timbers are the cheapest form of pressure treated wood available. Last batch I bought were only $3 each and were surprisingly nice.


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