pressure treated wood

Originally Posted By: csoutherland
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I have been seeing a lot of front porches recently with pressure treated wood supports burried as much as 4 feet deep. The soil in Georgia tends to be clay and holds moisture for a long period. I have been asked several times what is the life span of pressure treated wood before it rots in these conditions. Any ideas?


Originally Posted By: gbeaumont
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Hi Carl,


I don’t know about the building standards down in your area, but up here that would be a complete no no. I have just (last week) been teaching my Home Inspection class that no form wood regardless as to whether it is PT or not should be in contact directly with the ground, and that ALL structural supports should be on a proper footing ( up here that typically means on new build that a 36 inch deep + concrete footing be used and that a “jack” or post foot actually keeps the support from touching even the footing at grade). As to how long a post would last buried in the ground I would not dare to venture an opinion due to liability but would simply write it up as a defect, and suggest that it needed to be replaced with a proper footing.



Gerry Beaumont


NACHI Education Committee


e-mail : education@nachi.org


NACHI phone 484-429-5466


Inspection Depot Education
gbeaumont@inspectiondepot.com

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