Selection and Use of Preservative-treated Wood

📖 The Scoop

For centuries wood has been one of the most common and easiest to use construction materials. It is used practically everywhere in housing and agricultural buildings, as posts, utility and telephone poles, railroad ties, wharves, piling, and many others. Wood is also a renewable material. Although we have consumed tremendous volumes of wood for centuries, the United States is growing more wood volume than what is being harvested. Wood is a biological material and subject to decay, insect, and marine borer attack. These agents are nature's way of recycling wood in the natural ecosystem. Without nature's recycling system, we would literally be buried by wood and other cellulose-based materials, such as grass, leaves, and agricultural field residues. However, when wood is used in a more or less permanent application, it must be protected from biological degradation. Destruction can be prevented by any number of methods or combination of methods. This book was written for homeowners, contractors, building supply clerks, architects, and others who use or recommend wood products. This summary briefly reviews the major causes of biological deterioration of wood and how it can be prevented.

Genre: Technology & Engineering / Materials Science / General (fancy, right?)