Pressure Treated Deck Boards
Chemically infused decking has been around for decades. Used for both residential and commercial projects, pressure treated pine was pretty much the only decking option & was affordable for many people. Unfortunately, these decks have a proven history of failure.
While the main benefit of pressure treating woods like Yellow Pine is to resist termites and other wood boring insects, the treatment fails to prevent structural defects. You can see exactly what happens to pressure treated deck material over time in the pictures to the right.
| CCA (chromated copper arsenate) treated lumber contains chemicals such as arsenic. Even just pressure washing a CCA treated deck led to chemicals leeching into soil and ground water. It also severely corroded metal fasteners thereby making decks even more unstable. CCA lumber is no longer sold in the United States. |
| To replace CCA, the industry created ACQ (Alkaline Copper Quaternary), an arsenic free alternative. Despite using reducing the amount of harmful chemicals, an ACQ treated deck board is still very damaging to metal fasteners and cannot be in contact with aluminum flashing. |
| Regardless of the chemical makeup, pressure treated deck boards do not weather well. |
| Many people still settle for pressure treated deck boards mainly due to cost. |
| Pressure treated decking works best as deck framing and post material where exposure to the elements is minimal, thereby increasing its life span and durability. |
| Splits, cracks, warped deck boards, and decay are inevitable problems linked to pressure treated decking. |
Micronized Copper Azole Treated Lumber
Is there any kind of pressure treated lumber that we do recommend? Yes. For deck framing, the most advanced pressure treated option is MCA (Micronized Copper Azole) treated southern yellow pine.
The Environmental Protection Agency has tested MCA treated lumber and certified it under the Scientific Certification Systems Environmentally Preferable Product (EPP) program based on Life-Cycle Assessment. Compliant with ISO standards 14044 and 14025, MCA treated lumber is, by far, the only pressure treated deck boards we feel safe recommending to our customers for deck framing.
MCA Lumber offers the following benefits:
- Better resistance against decay & termite attack
- Lighter, more natural wood appearance
- Increased corrosion resistance
- Code-approved fasteners and hardware
- Building code compliant. ICC - ES Reports, ESR-2240
For more information on MCA deck boards, please contact us.
Build your slice of outdoor life with true hardwood deck boards.
