PRESSURE TREATED LUMBER

 

Pressure-treated wood is lumber or plywood that has been impregnated under high pressure with preservatives that protect the wood from termites and fungal dcay. The most common type of wood preservative used today is chromate-copper-arsenate (CCA). It is the most effective wood preservative known today and safe for most indoor and outdoor applications when properly treated and used as directed.

CCA pressure-treated wood will last for decades in harsh outdoor exposures. Tests conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on wood stakes treated with Osmose CCA preservative have shown a resistance to termite damage and decay for over 60 years. This independent and impartial testing agency predicts a service life for wood treated with Osmose preservative of 5 to 10 times longer than untreated wood.

HOW IS IT TREATED?

It is impossible to relate the Great Southern Wood story without bringing in Osmose Wood Preserving, Inc., the Buffalo, N.Y., firm that produces the preserving solution essential to the treatment process.

Part of what Rane acquired for his initial investment was a relationship with Osmose. The tiny backyard operation had been constructed in 1955, and at that time was only the third Osmose treating plant in the country.

Today, it is by the distinctive yellow Osmose label and lifetime warranty that most consumers know Great Southern Wood's lumber. Osmose is the only U.S.-owned manufacturer of wood preservatives.

Under tremendous pressure, the liquid enters the wood to protect against bacteria, fungi, insects and marine organisms that normally feed off its fibers.

After several days of drying and another quality inspection, the treated lumber is loaded onto Great Southern Wood's own fleet of trucks for delivery to retailers.

Improvements in both plant technology and Osmose's chemistry have enabled Great Southern Wood to produce lumber that is purer, more durable and environmentally safer than ever before.

Great Southern Wood accepts only the highest quality yellow pine for its purposes. Lumber to undergo the preserving process is loaded into giant cylinders where the waterborne, chrome-based Osmose solution will be forced deep into the cellular structure of the wood.