Sill Replacement

[DEJ]

I agree with the PT sill however if you live by the lake there are much better choices for the walkway than PT.

PT has improved over the years regarding environmental issues but IMO still has stuff in it that one would not like leaching into the lake. It all adds up, a little fertilizer here, a little PT there, a septic issue etc... it all affects the water quality and aquatic health.

When your current walkway needs replacing consider a product such as trex, the extra cost is minimal and the use of this product should give you peace of mind that you are not doing harm to the environment.

[jmen24]

Originally Posted by DEJ

I agree with the PT sill however if you live by the lake there are much better choices for the walkway than PT.

PT has improved over the years regarding environmental issues but IMO still has stuff in it that one would not like leaching into the lake. It all adds up, a little fertilizer here, a little PT there, a septic issue etc... it all affects the water quality and aquatic health.

When your current walkway needs replacing consider a product such as trex, the extra cost is minimal and the use of this product should give you peace of mind that you are not doing harm to the environment.

Great post and an issue that is not brought up enough about the hazards of PT, the industry as a whole is not very far away from completely abandoning PT all together, but we wait while new product offerings are being tested.

I would like to put a bug in your ear regarding Trex and other similar composites and how "green" they really are not.

Trex, Correct Deck and others that use a composite material made of wood fiber and recycled plastic are not the "green" product that you think they are. Well in a sense they are because they use todays recycled materals, but that is where it ends. Once you combine wood fiber or pulp with plastic that product can never be recycled or disposed of in a way that will prevent it from being around for centuries. Wood on its own will decompose over time and return to nature (minus paints and sealers) plastic alone can be recycled as long as it is pure to its form. These products will eventually fill in a hole in the Earth and remain there for generations to come. So we are helping todays generation by using up recycled material but we pass the issue of having to deal with our new bi-product at a later date. If you truely want a "green" deck or walkway, use cedar, Ipe or mahogany decking products and allow them to naturally grey over time. All of these materials have little to know checking (cedar more than the others) and will not rot, become infested with bugs and will last a very long time. When your Great-Great-Great grandchildren deside to tear down the deck, they can have a fire or dispose in an approved dumping area and the material will fade back into the surrounds from which it came. Modern day Ipe and mahogany are grown in sustainable forests and not hacked out of the rain forests, you get certified material stamps with both, cedar is still harvested naturally. Ipe probably the most expensive natural decking material available, but both cedar and cambara mahogany are less money than composites.

The "green" products marketing is making alot of companies very rich, but if you really want to know how green something is look up how many LEED credits the product gets.

Thats all I have to say on that.