# Pressure Treated Wood



## Defiant (Feb 24, 2008)

I am not sure if this is common knowledge or not but you should not use Pressure Treated wood with aluminum it will eat a hole in it over time if you need to use wood in a Mod please use regular wood not PT


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## ACarbone624 (Feb 24, 2008)

Yes, regular wood with a good water sealer!


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## pbw (Feb 24, 2008)

Correct Sir, Bassboy will chime in on this also and agree.

I've put on several coats of water proofing that plus the glue I used for carpet should keep it sealed!


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## bassboy1 (Feb 24, 2008)

pbw said:


> Correct Sir, Bassboy will chime in on this also and agree.


Seems I have quite the reputation on here.  Not sure if that is a good thing or not. :? 

Yes, you shouldn't use pressure treated wood. In most of the modern methods of pressure treating wood, copper is added, and copper and aluminum are dissimilar metals. Sooner or later, they will start to corrode each other, and begin eating away at the hull. Same goes for galvanization. Galvanization is the coating of iron and steel with zinc, making a corrosion resistant finish. The zinc is also a dissimilar metal, and will cause corrosion. Your only option for fasteners would be stainless steel, and aluminum, in the case of rivets. Now, stainless and aluminum are dissimilar, but they are much closer to each other, so the effects are usually not noticeable, and there isn't really another option as far as marine fasteners are concerned.


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## mtnbasser (Mar 21, 2008)

Folks i'm aware that unlike metals will cause corrosion. However I used treated lumber in making the deck on the "creeper". Its been 5 years and I'm yet to see the effects of any corrosion on my boat. The treated lumber is in direct contact with the aluminium. 

If i was to rebuild my front deck i would probaly go with untreated just for the lighter weight...


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## bassboy1 (Mar 21, 2008)

mtnbasser said:


> Folks i'm aware that unlike metals will cause corrosion. However I used treated lumber in making the deck on the "creeper". Its been 5 years and I'm yet to see the effects of any corrosion on my boat. The treated lumber is in direct contact with the aluminium.
> 
> If i was to rebuild my front deck i would probaly go with untreated just for the lighter weight...


You can probably go plenty more years before your wood corrodes the aluminum. Older PT wood didn't have copper in it, but the new standards require it. I am fairly sure those standards came into play within the last 4 or so years.


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## twds (Mar 21, 2008)

How thick of plywood do you use?


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## LarryA (Sep 3, 2008)

Defiant said:


> I am not sure if this is common knowledge or not but you should not use Pressure Treated wood with aluminum it will eat a hole in it over time if you need to use wood in a Mod please use regular wood not PT



I know this is an old thread but I remebered reading it earlier and wanted to touch on something. This point of corrosion may be ture but that is what I found interesting. Just the other day I watched a TV show where they showed how one company makes Pontoon boats. The entire frame and floats where made of aluminum and they bolted a pressure treated plywood to th frame for a deck. If the corrosion is an issue, why would they do this?


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## ben2go (Sep 3, 2008)

The only place I have use pressure treat wood is on pontoons.There is a rubber strip between the floor braces and wood.The carpet over lap on the sides protect the edges.


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## bassboy1 (Sep 3, 2008)

In fresh water, it probably isn't much of a problem. But in salt, or in an area of freshwater where it maybe has a slightly higher electrical current (say from shore power at a marina - if you marina store any boat, you will notice that the zincs on the motor corrode away much faster) the corrosion will be increased exponentially. Some 'toons have a rubber isolator pad of some sort. Others use a version of pressure treated wood that doesn't have copper in it, but that is not the sort you will find at a home improvement store. Still others are just poorly built. Just because a boat manufacture makes something doesn't mean that the best method was used. I have seen many homebuilt varieties of most anything come out with a significantly higher quality than the factory made counterpart.


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## ben2go (Sep 3, 2008)

bassboy1 said:


> In fresh water, it probably isn't much of a problem. But in salt, or in an area of freshwater where it maybe has a slightly higher electrical current (say from shore power at a marina - if you marina store any boat, you will notice that the zincs on the motor corrode away much faster) the corrosion will be increased exponentially. Some 'toons have a rubber isolator pad of some sort. Others use a version of pressure treated wood that doesn't have copper in it, but that is not the sort you will find at a home improvement store. Still others are just poorly built. Just because a boat manufacture makes something doesn't mean that the best method was used. I have seen many homebuilt varieties of most anything come out with a significantly higher quality than the factory made counterpart.




Agreed.Most of the puntunes I've done are trailered and spend their lives parked under oak or pine trees.


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## SlimeTime (Sep 4, 2008)

Perhaps it was marine grade & not pressure treated?

ST


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## smoody (Sep 10, 2008)

Another thing guys, when using regular wood and a water sealer check the info on the sealer, some sealers contain chemical that will corrode aluminum as well just like PT wood. I always used epoxy and coated the wood, especially the edges where you can see the layers.


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## 13rannon (Sep 10, 2008)

Good, information....I didn't know any of this. Saved me some time and money. Thanks


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## Specknreds (Sep 12, 2008)

I wish that I would have known this when I bought a new 08' Alweld. I built a rod locker down the side and scewed it straight to the ribs using treated plywood. 6 months later I removed it to put a aluminium floor in. I was horrified when I saw where it rubbed the paint. Some of the 100 ga. was pitted over 3/4 of the way through. 

I've heard that there is a class action lawsuit against G3 and Xpress in my area because the trailer bunks (with carpet) have ate pinholes into the hulls. There is a lot of info on the subject on rodnreel.com in the report section.

I believe that saltwater plays a role in this also. I'm in saltwater most of the time.

I'm not removing the floor, but here are a few pics of where the plywood came in contact with my boat. It's less than a year old.


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## ben2go (Sep 12, 2008)

That sux.Sorry for your loss.I hate to see a nearly new boat have issues like that.


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