Recent New Zealand research suggests that deck
hardware may be rusting faster than we
think.............
Photo: Skip Walker
As a building inspector, I
frequently encounter relatively new deck or
foundation hardware that inexplicably exhibits high
levels of corrosion. As most deck builders know, the
chemical formulas used for preservatively treated
(PT) lumber were altered following the "voluntary
industry transition" away from Chromated Copper
Arsenate (CCA) in 2003. Most of these new formulas
contain much higher levels of copper, resulting in
PT lumber that is much more corrosive to metals.