Thread: What is this wood and is it CCA treated?

Judging by the light red tones, possibly Brush Box?

Would doubt very much if a CCA treatment has been applied to this timber. I have been told, even though Telegragh poles are often CCA treated, that most hardwoods don't absorb as well as say the pines etc and hence does not improve the overall durability.

A good fetch of nice timber there...CR.

Steve

Australian hardwood resists impregnation with CCA treatment (Copper Chromium Arsenic: nasty stuff really) and really only sits on the surface when it is applied: Consequently with sawn timber it is close to useless, although I know Bunnings do sell treated hardwood garden sleepers. Power poles are a different scenario as they are used in the round with only the bark removed and are selected for species that have a thick sapwood, which does impregnate very well. Spotted Gum is a prime candidate with sapwood up to 40mm thick. However, hardwood power poles are routinely treated to a freshener of treatment via a bored hole close to the base. If the timber had been treated, one pass with a planer would remove all vestige of treatment, which is indicative of how useless it is.

It looks like you have some good solid timber there that can be re-purposed.

Welcome to the Forums

Regards
Paul

Hi Steve

CCA, or copper-chrome-arsenic treatment, is a form of pressure treatment that gives treated pine its familiar green colouration. The arsenic kills insects, the copper stops fungus (aka rot) and the chromium stops the other two from leaching out. It was rarely used on hardwoods as penetration was poor. There is no visible evidence of it in your photos.

But there were over 100 other approved treatments, and most are not visible.

AQIS almost always insisted that foreign timber be treated before importation. For domestic timber rules and practices varied widely between states.

Thanks for the responses all. I'm gonna continue dreaming up projects for this timber!

Just for some background, in a former life I managed a CCA treatment plant.

highly unlikely that hardwood is treated, but even if it is I wouldn’t be bothered from a safety point, only aesthetics. As a general rule unless you burn it the treatment is no more dangerous to humans than the wood itself. The copper is harmless, most people think the arsenic is dangerous but it has a very short half life and you would need to ingest so much treated timber that the wood would kill you long before the arsenic. The chrome is actually the dangerous part because the half life is 100+ years, but once again you need massive extended exposure and ingestion before it becomes an issue.

Use the same precautions you would for normal timber and you will be fine, whether it is CCA or not.

Cheers Andrew