I have an old redwood deck which I plan to replace with a paver patio. It looks weathered and was probably never painted/stained. Anyway to confirm that? It doesn’t look to be pressure treated either but is there a way to confirm that too? I plan to use the wood and posts for building raised vegetable beds. Thanks!
Power wash one of them. If its green under the aging it will show. I just power washed my deck over the summer. It looked brand new.
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From the pictures it looks like redwood or ceder. Either way cut a quarter of an inch off the end of a board. If ceder or redwood it will look fresh and smell new. All the aging will be on the surface.
add a little bleach to the reservoir . the bleach will help bring back the color and kill any fungus / mold growing on it. seen guys do this to log cabin logs before refinishing. they look like new.! I’m doing the same with my old deck. its 25 yr. old treated lumber but had a roof over it so the underside still looks like new. going to put the worn side on the inside. its old enough id think any poisonous chemicals in there would have mostly leached out over the years
I think I am fairly certain it’s redwood, it’s pretty common here. I can sand down a portion to confirm. It looks like it was never finished = ideal raised bed material. Something possessed me and I asked for a quote for getting rid of it. $2250 !gulp!
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The posts that have ground contact seem to be pressure treated. They have these staple marks all over. Is that the only way to know?
take a sawsall or chainsaw and cut a 1in. thick piece off the end of the post. if near the center is still greenish its treated.
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id have one hell of a bonfire party before id PAY to get rid off a old deck! that stuff will probably out last you as a raised bed.
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Yup. Those are from the pressure treating process.