[SEL] OT - now homebuilding (gas pipe corrosion)

[fero_ah at city-net.com]

Hi Dave,

You bring up an EXCELLENT point.  A buddy at work had a length of common black
gas pipe that penetrated a pair of pressure-treated sill boards on top of his
foundation to take the gas supply out to the gas grill on the deck.

The family had been getting whiffs of gas smell both on the deck and in the
gameroom.  It turns out that the length of pipe was nearly corroded away where
it had penetrated the pressure treated wood.  NASTY corrosive stuff!!  He could
have easily been in a situation where the basement filled with gas and you had
the classic home-leveling gas explosion.

It's a good practice to check anything that's metal penetrating that sort of
wood.

Since a lot of us use pressure-treated wood for our engine trailer decks, it
might be a good idea to check out the condition of the bolts holding the deck
to the trailer frame too.

See ya,  Arnie

Quoting Dave Merchant <kosh at ncweb.com>:

> Deck screws, at least in the US, have a very special coating, since the
> enviro-crazies got the normal green pressure treated timber banned.
> The replacement is also green, but is about 4 times more corrosive
> to fasteners than the old stuff. (Manufacturer's statement, not mine!)
> 
> We built a scaffold last year from pressure treated + 1/2" chromated bolts.
> Had it up for 2 weeks before dismantling it, and the bolts look like 
> battery terminals.