Forest Products Laboratory

Title: Ground-contact durability of wood treated with borax-copper preservative

Author: Lebow, Stan T.; Woodward, Bessie; Lebow, Patricia K.

Date: 2007

Source: Proceedings, one hundred third annual meeting of the American Wood Protection Association ... St. Louis, Missouri, May 6-8, 2007 : volume 103. Birmingham, Ala. : American Wood Protection Association, c2007: pages 82-87.

Description: This study evaluated the ability of a borax-copper(BC) preservative to protect wood exposed in ground contact. Southern pine sapwood stakes were pressure-treated with 0.9%, 1.4%, 2.3%, and 4.7% BC solution concentrations and placed into the ground at test sites near Mississippi, or Madison, Wisconsin. Untreated stakes and stakes treated with 1% chromated copper arsenate (CCA-C) or 1.1% disodium octaborate tetrahydrate (DOT) were included for comparison. Stakes were inspected annually for decay (Wisconsin test site) or decay and termites (Mississippi test site) and assigned a visual rating. The 2.3% and 4.7% BC concentrations were largely effective in preventing decay in Wisconsin but were much less effective in protecting the stakes exposed in Mississippi. Stakes treated with 0.9% and 1.4% BC concentrations performed slightly better than did DOT-treated stakes at both locations, indicating that even low levels of copper help to limit both decay and termite attack. As expected, the CCA-C treatment was highly effective at both locations. This study indicates that although pressure treatment with BC can extend the ground-contact durability of wood in northern climates, it may be better suited to protection of wood used aboveground.

Keywords: Copper, sapwood, biodegradation, wood, deterioration, termites, borax, wood preservatives, pine, preservation, wood poles, decay, southern pine, copper chrome arsenate, CCA, stakes, treated wood, copper compounds, decomposition of wood, durability, stake tests, DOT, field tests, posts, resistance to decay, groundline, disodium octaborate tetrahydrate

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Citation

Lebow, Stan T.; Woodward, Bessie; Lebow, Patricia K.  2007.  Ground-contact durability of wood treated with borax-copper preservative.   Proceedings, one hundred third annual meeting of the American Wood Protection Association ... St. Louis, Missouri, May 6-8, 2007 : volume 103. Birmingham, Ala. : American Wood Protection Association, c2007: pages 82-87..