Landscaping timbers $1 a pop! Are they usually pressure treated?

[Wink]

I'd guess yes, they have been treated, but what do you think?

At my local Habitat for humanity, there are about 8 more pieces of landscaping timber a $1 each.... For that price, I thought I'd scoop 'em up and incorporate them as part of the posts for the run (building Playhouse coop type of structure). I would actually want pressure treated since it will come into contact with the ground.

So do you think it'd work just as well as a 4x4 in the corners of the run?

 

[chicken_crazy93]

Yes, they work as good or better than 4X4's. You can use them for post's, door frame's etc.... I used them for both my chicken houses.

 

[tammymacieamy]

They tend to rot off rather quickly when used as posts, I don't know if it's different in various regions or not.

 

[Wink]

Quote:
this is what I'm worried about.... They won't be IN ground per se, just sitting on top. I thought if they were pressure treated, they'd be just fine, just slightly smaller than a 4x4?

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

I thought if they were pressure treated, they'd be just fine, just slightly smaller than a 4x4?

They aren't treated very well, and tend to warp

Spend the money to get lumber rated for "ground contact" and it will last for years​

 

[camotruck]

I don't think they are pressure treated as much as pressure treated 4x4's. And they WILL warp like Bear Foot said. For $1 each, I would snag them for other purposes. I wound up needing some because I ended up trimming the outside of my coop and run with stone, and used the timbers to edge it. But I wouldn't use them for structural posts...

 

[RIBill]

In contact with the ground the shoul be fine. They are not pressure treated, but they are simply coated. I had some used as fence posts from the previous owner. The part in ground rotted away completely in 1 year. The wood above ground was fully intact. I used some on the low side of my sloped run to reduce errosion.

 

[QH Girl]

Quote:
We bought 100 of them on sale for fence posts around our pasture. It took them about 3-4 years to start rotting out.

 

[Wink]

Well, I bought the timbers, but I think I will go for the 4x4 super pressure treated for the run corners and leave the landscape timbers for..... Landscaping!

 

[gsim]

Quote:
Smart move. Even better if you can find old power/telephone poles that have been replaced. They will far outlast pressure treated lumber of any kind.