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Hot take: I think treated lumber for raised beds is fine
Everyone said treated wood would leach chemicals into my soil, but I tested it with a kit from Lowe's and got nothing after 2 years. Has anyone else actually tested theirs or just repeating what they heard?
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terry_carter151mo agoMost Upvoted
The real issue nobody brings up is what kind of treated lumber you're using. Modern stuff like ACQ or CA is way different than the old CCA that had arsenic in it. I tested some older deck boards from the 90s once and they lit up on the test kit, but the new stuff from Home Depot was clean as can be. So if you built with newer treated wood it's probably fine, but people still panic because they remember the bad stuff from 20 years ago. Just make sure you're not using railroad ties though, those are soaked in creosote and will definitely mess with your soil.
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