do you need pressure treated wood if you paint it

What Kind of Paint Do You Use on Pressure Treated Wood? Check out my article What is Pressure Treated Wood? A Comprehensive Guide to get all the information and safety risks with pressure treated wood. Even so, the drying process may take as long as two to four months. Placing a small heater inside either the shed or garage will help, as the process is aided in a warm environment. Stack the wood with thin wooden strips separating each layer to enable air to reach all sides. An enclosed garage will also be a good place as long as you don’t leave it open during winter or damp weather. Your shed can be used if there is no dampness inside. If the wood is not kiln-dried, you will need to store the new wood in a warm, dry place. Of course, this type of wood costs a bit more, but if you don’t want to wait or don’t have a suitable place to store it while it dries, you may want to look into this option. This process thoroughly dries the wood, both inside and outside. It’s basically dried in an oven at the mill. There is a type of pressure treated wood that you can purchase that will skip the drying part. The moisture still inside will still have a chance to evaporate, and the wood will keep drying. This means that only the surface must be thoroughly dry before staining. Stain, on the other hand, is a bit breathable. This is because paint locks in any moisture that may be inside the wood. Because of this, the wood may look and feel dry on the outside, but it must be completely dry all the way through before you try to paint it. Pressure treated wood has a special type of liquid, usually a copper azole compound, that is injected into the wood while it’s subjected to high pressure. When Can You Paint Pressure Treated Wood? In addition, the wood will be less protected than you would like. The paint may even start flaking off as the wood dries. If you’re too impatient and don’t allow the proper drying time, you won’t get the results you want, and you may well end up having to repaint much soon than you expected. This is because the pressure treatment involves chemicals injected into the wood under high pressure, and it takes time for all the moisture to evaporate completely. Allowing the wood to dry thoroughly and using both a primer and paint will take time, but this type of wood requires that you take the extra time and effort. Pressure treated lumber does require some special considerations and the whole process may take longer than you would like.

Yes, you can paint pressure treated wood, if you allow it to dry correctly and use a good primer and 2 coats of paint. Eventually, unpainted pressure treated lumber will turn gray and start to splinter, which will actually speed up the weathering process. It’s a good idea to paint pressure treated wood, as the treatment doesn’t render the wood waterproof.

Improvements in the treating process mean that it can be painted or even stained.

In the past, pressure-treated wood was fairly hard to paint, or at least to make it look good when painting.

Do you need pressure treated wood if you paint it