Treated plywood okay for floor if painted inside?

[Z80GameCoder]

Looks like we are jumping in and getting the base stuff together very soon.
We are building an octagonal coop raised up on 2ft posts frame all round to make an octagon at ground level, with another above to support the floor.
The underside will be additional run space and shade for when it is hot.
3/4" plywood for the flooring, but is it okay to have treated stuff if painted on the inside of the coop?
Wall sides are 4' each.
Using 4 x 4 treated posts at each corner and 2 x 4 treated boards to make the bottom ground frame and floor joists.
Hardware cloth will be used liberally to secure the underside.
I will probably post pics to Flickr as things progress, can then share them on here.

 

[Huskeriowa]

Old treated wood was teated with an arsenic base of some type. Now they use some sort of copper treatment instead. You can use the treated lumber produced today in building gardens etc which is something you couldn't do with the old stuff. I would think that if its fine for the walls of a garden bed it would be fine for chickens. Especially if painted.

 

[Z80GameCoder]

Thank you!
I did some Googling too and saw a bunch of links that said they used it.
The underside of the coop is raised up, but it is still going to get some moisture under there.
We were figuring treated wood would be the safest choice.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
I wouldn't -- there is just no NEED to use p/t plywood for that, unless you are planning on frequently hosing the coop out which is really unnecessary and if you do it I would not count on p/t plywood to save you from rot.

But I suppose you CAN if you really want to, as long as you keep it covered in bedding. You can try paint, but p/t wood does not generally hold paint well.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Scattered & Splattered]

When you using pressure treated wood, you have to wait a few months before painting or staining. I believe the recommendation is three months, but an employee at your local hardware store's lumber department/section should have the answer you're looking for.

 

[aggie9296]

Unless it is going to be exposed to a lot of rain, water, or have ground contact, you do not NEED P/T lumber. Due to the chemicals used in treating it and the added cost, I personally would not use it indoors, even painted. If you do, it does need to dry out for a few months or it tends to not hold paint. Painting regular plywood or even OSB would waterproof it pretty well.

If you paint pressure treated wood, you're kind of eliminating the need for pressure treating to start with.

 

[Judy]

In that kind of setup I would personally go for untreated and paint both sides.

 

[Z80GameCoder]

Thanks for the replies!
As it turned out the guy at Lowe's said the PT stuff was terrible and recommended regular plywood at half the price.
So we got that and some paint to help protect it in the interim.
So now we have all the material to build the base of the octagon and the floor.
So far it is three sheets of 4 x 8 plywood, two PT 4 x 4 x 8, four PT 2 x 4 x 10, fourteen PT 2 x 4 x 8.
Plus the necessary hardware to put it all together.
We already got four 10 x 35 transom windows for four sides of the octagon.
Making the space in the other four sides into ventilation, alternating between the two.
Our design has a second smaller 'cap roof' with eight 16 x 8 undereave vents.
So this thing should look rather gazebo-like when finished.
I think rain is forecast for tomorrow, so we could do the PT base, but the plywood will probably have to wait.
This is going to be interesting.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Good for him!

I dunno if it's just me, but I've seen a LOT better advice from Lowe's employees than from Home Depot -- both in terms of what people report here, and in terms of what I get myself when I wander in with ill-defined plumbing problems or stuff like that.

Good luck, have fun, post pics

,

Pat

 

[msudawgs56]

I'm using pressure treated.. but.... if you paint it, it needs to try out a few months before painting. The chemicals that are in the wood take several months to leach out and if you paint over it, your paint could flake and peel. I use to be a Manager at Sherwin Williams Paints and I have seen this happen way too many times. Let the wood age and dry before painting.