I was building a deck in my Cincinnati backyard when a neighbor's comment made me ditch treated lumber for good

I was about to buy a load of pressure treated pine from the big box store, like I always did. My neighbor Frank, who's been a carpenter for forty years, walked over and said, 'You know that stuff's gonna warp and split in two summers, right?' He pointed me toward a local yard that sells cedar. I bought the cedar, and even though it cost about $400 more upfront, the frame is still perfectly straight after four years. Anyone else switch materials based on a simple tip and never looked back?

3 comments

3 Comments

hollyc921mo ago

Frank's tip about the cedar is a perfect example. How did you figure out which local yard to trust for good lumber? My experience is that some places talk a big game but the wood is still full of knots or not dried right.

nancy_smith1mo ago

Oh man, that's the best kind of advice. I used to use basic vinyl flooring in rentals until a contractor friend told me about a thicker, commercial-grade option. It costs a bit more per box, but I haven't had a single tenant crack or chip it in five years. That tip saved me so many headaches.

anna_ross191mo ago

Wish I'd gotten that advice before my last rental. Went with the cheap stuff thinking it looked fine. Tenants moved a fridge and left a gouge you could lose a quarter in. Had to replace the whole section. Now I'm all about the thick commercial grade too. That extra cost up front is nothing compared to the repair bills later.