Pressure treated vs. redwood

[Tyger52]

I 've heard that both pressure treated wood and redwood offer the same resistance to termites, bugs, mold, and other things that might destroy the wood. I see that redwood is more expensive but it seems that there are not the same worries of the posion getting airborne during cutting. I want to replace my water damaged studs and sill with redwood since the sill contacts the concrete slab. The studs should not get wet again but then they weren't suppose to in the first place. The price difference in using pine studs compared to redwood makes no difference to me, but are there other reasons to not use redwood?

[Snoonyb]

If you select redwood make sure that you are getting construction heart, regular redwood is little different from normal construction grade lumber.

[Tyger52]

I noticed that the douglas fir 2 X 4 studs at Home Depot have a marking on them that says "stud" and no such marking on the redwood 2 X 4s. Does that mean that Home Depot does not carry redwood that is construction grade for interior residential studs? I asked the guys at HD, they said sure, our redwood is ok for house studs, but I don't trust their answer.

[awesomedell]

The new formula P/T lumber doesn't have the poison aspect (specifically arsenic) that the old stuff had. I would definitely recommend using the p/t for the sill plate, beyond that the grade of studs you select is up to you and your budget, the better the grade the more you pay, but the fewer rejects you get. My .02¢ for what it's worth. :coffee:

[Joe.Carrick]

I noticed that the douglas fir 2 X 4 studs at Home Depot have a marking on them that says "stud" and no such marking on the redwood 2 X 4s. Does that mean that Home Depot does not carry redwood that is construction grade for interior residential studs? I asked the guys at HD, they said sure, our redwood is ok for house studs, but I don't trust their answer.

"Stud" means that the length is 92-1/2" vs 96". IOW, studs are not a full 8' in length. This is because 8' walls are constructed with a 2x4 bottom plate and 2 2x4 top plates which adds 4-1/2" to the height of the wall, resulting in a height of 97". Then extra inch allows for dyrwall ceilings and 2 4' pieces of drywall on the wall with about 1/2" clearand at the floor.

Redwood is generally softer than Douglas Fir, so I would use the PTDF instead of redwood.

[awesomedell]

Thanks for the assist there Joe, I totally missed the part of the question about the differece between a stud & 2"x4". :wall: One other point, some locations might require the use of pressure treated lumber for framing in contact with masonry.

[WFO]

If you decide to go with the ACQ treated lumber, remember that you need to use fasteners specifically rated for that purpose. The chemical qualities of ACQ will corrode conventional steel fasteners and even some of the cheaper galvanized products.

[awesomedell]

For new ACQ or AC2 lumber you need to be using hot dipped galvanized or stainless steel fasteners. And copper flashing as well as was noted.

[Tyger52]

Some one just told me that pressure treated lumber is very wet (19%) and will twist and bend as it drys which makes unacceptable for use in framing. I have noticed a few more creaks and groans in the house since I installed the studs (3 studs so far, 2 more planned). Rather than pull them out, is there a way that I can tell if the lumber is dry enough?