PRE-FAB

ADAPTABODE

HOME

ARCHITECTURE

LANDSCAPE

INTERIORS

GREEN DESIGN

ABOUT C/ARC

BLOG

CONTACT US

NON-TOXIC WOOD PRESERVATIVES

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Yesterday I received an email from a Home Owner’s Association Property Manager that said: “I know that the beams/columns that are being used for the project are being treated. A home owner is asking if there will be a sticker on the wood saying the substance used causes cancer.”

After my initial shock about someone asking for such a “sticker”, I realized what was happening. Everyone hears on an almost daily basis just how toxic our lives are and how the products we use on a regular basis are costing us our health. Timber products that are designed to be exposed to the elements such as wood deck framing, fences -- or in this case, large posts and beams supporting a common stairway in a large housing project -- must be treated with a preservative. This preservative must protect against weather damage and insect infestation. In the Southern California climate our insects are termites, in northern climes you can expect carpenter ants. Whatever the flavor, they can chew a big expensive hole in your wood.

THE BAD STUFF

Most contractors will use a zinc or copper napthenate products which have a low order of toxicity. However, even a low order of toxicity is still toxicity. This goes for the people handling the product during construction, people or animals exposed to it after installation and the leaching of the product back into the environment during water run-off. Cancer-inducing? Not likely, but a level of toxicity nonetheless.

That is why we searched to find a more natural product that uses borate salt to preserve the wood. This product is 100% non-toxic to humans and the environment and does 100% of the job the old copper and zinc napthenates did. Without the smell, without the danger to human, animal, plant or other life.

And, without “stickers” that warn of potential cancer dangers!

Call us for more information about how this product is used.