Termites and treated pine

[alanpottle]

I've got termite damage in the floor joists and some walls, I was thinking of cutting treated pine sleepers to replace the joists and bearers but notice when the treated pine is cut, raw timber is exposed. Obviously it needs retreating to seal the raw timber. Spoke to our termite man and he said that all cuts need to be resealed so I went into our nearest store today and asked a team member about this and I was told that the treatment goes all the way through the timber because it is soaked in the treating product. However I have found quite to the contrary when having cut the green treated pine and having seen transport damage to the blue treated pine timbers which exposes raw pine. What have people used to seal these cut area?

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @alanpottle. It's fantastic to have you join us and many thanks for your question.

The product you are looking for is TWA Woodcare 300g Ecoseal Tanalised Timber Treatment. Protection from termite starts at an H2 level of treatment which is your blue framing timbers.

For the benefit of others that might come across this discussion, I thought I would include the 6 general grades of treated pine.

• H1 which is suitable for internal use. It offers protection from Lyctid borer. Its common uses are in framing, furniture and interior joinery.

• H2 which is suitable for internal use with occasional slight wetting. It offers protection from borers and termites. Its common uses are in framing.

• H3 which is suitable for exterior above ground use where it receives moderate moisture. It offers protection from moderate decay, borers and termites. Its common uses are in facia, bargeboards, window joinery and framing. 

• H4 which is suitable for exterior on/inground use where it receives moderate wetting. It offers protection from severe decay, borers and termites. Its common uses are in fence/decking posts and landscaping.

• H5 which is suitable for exterior on/inground use where it is in constant contact with fresh water. It offers protection from severe decay, borers and termites. Its common uses are in retaining walls, piling, house stumps and building poles.

• H6 which is suitable for prolonged immersion in seawater. It offers protection from marine wood borers and extreme decay. Its common uses are in boat hulls, marine piles and jetty cross bracing.

Please let me know if you need further information or had any questions.

Mitchell

[Yanick]

Hi mate,

Just a side note, please keep in mind that sleepers are not structurally rated. They can’t be used in load bearing applications in construction (joists and bearers).

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Yanick. It's fantastic to have you join us and many thanks for jumping straight into the conversation.

That's a fantastic pickup on sleepers not being structurally rated and I trust @alanpottle will appreciate you looking out for their safety. It sounds like you have a great deal of knowledge in this area and I'm sure our members will appreciate your valuable input to the community.

We look forward to hearing about some of your own projects around the house and garden and we'd encourage you to let us know if you ever need assistance or would like to share them with us.

Mitchell