When is using untreated lumber better?
When is using untreated lumber better? The first step in building anything is choosing the right materials. If your project involves wood, you’re going to have to decide between treated and untreated lumber. So what’s the difference between the two? And at the end of the day, does it even matter? The short answer is yes, it matters — especially if you happen to be building a playground set for your kids or a garden bed for your vegetables. You might be surprised to learn that many forms of treated lumber can be harmful to your health. In the past, the treatment process involved filling wood with dangerous chemicals and chemical compounds like creosote, pentachlorophenol (PCP), and chromated copper arsenate (CCA) [source: Gegner]. None of these chemicals and chemical compounds are safe. In fact, the arsenate in CCA is a form of arsenic, which is a c
