WHAT IS INCISING AND WHEN IS IT REQUIRED?
Incising is the process of cutting many small slits into the surface of a piece of wood in order to increase the amount of preservative taken up by the wood during treatment. Some wood species are particularly hard to treat, and incising is necessary to meet the penetration requirements in CSA standards. Non-incised CCA-treated wood will have a shorter service life than incised CCA-treated wood, but the difference may not be noticeable in the short term (under 20 years) in relatively low decay hazards such as decking. For wood in critical structural applications under conditions conducive to decay, incising could make the difference between 4 and >40 years service. Incising is not necessary with borate-treatment, because borate diffuses to achieve the required penetration. With borate-treated wood, there in no difference in performance between non-incised and incised, provided the target chemical content is achieved. There is a strength-loss penalty for incising, which is addressed dur
