# Looking for a way to Preserve/ Treat wood myself from Rot and Decay.



## ringosmills (Apr 11, 2010)

Hi all. I recently bought a sawmill. And have started milling alot of Ash. With all the Ash dying here in Ohio it is very plentiful. I have milled some beams and wanted to know if anyone knew of a way to preserve the wood from decay and rot from ground contact? I am looking to sink some of the beams in the ground for an arbor for my wife. what would be the best way to seal them up? Thanks, Nate


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

The pole barn builders know about these issues.


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## Nomad62 (Apr 20, 2010)

There are plenty of wood preservatives out there, but the one I would recommend is a green colored paint-on (or spray, but I don't like that) type; I don't know the brand name off the top of my head (I have a can at home) but I'm sure your local building supply will have it or a version thereof. You can also use any borate solution and spray it on, but I prefer the green stuff. Bugs just love ash wood, so make sure and get it all covered well, especially the end grain.
I would recommend putting in concrete piers that stand proud of the ground by at least 6" to put the wood beams on top of (you can put recesses in it to accept the beam), but if you put it in a hole then don't fill it with concrete, fill it with gravel after having put in about 3-4" of gravel in the hole first. Filling the hole with concrete almost guarantees the beam to rot at ground level; the gravel will let the water go away.
Congrats on the mill, I have one as well and it's a blast slicing logs. Best of luck!


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## auggy53 (Jan 23, 2011)

i think the green stuff that nomad mentioned is called penta , i used it along time ago and it worked well for what i needed.


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## ajosephg (Aug 25, 2008)

Can't be penta - it was outlawed years ago.


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## Nomad62 (Apr 20, 2010)

Forgot to look last night, called my wife to get the name…good to have her around every now and then, lol. Anyway, it's made by Jasco, and called Termin-8. I paint it on and let it soak in for a few minutes, it stinks and is messy but a really good product. Got a 5 gallon can a few years ago, haven't checked it's current availability.


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## HerbC (Jul 28, 2010)

I believe you'll find that ash does not hold up well in ground contact applications. ERC (eastern red cedar), or black locust would be good choices if you do not want to use commercially available treated posts.

Good luck!

Be Careful!

Herb


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