Wood protection

[ians]

When you sell recycled wood furniture do you have to have it treated, by law?

Are there product available to treat wood and if so do they work?

[Dave A]

When you sell recycled wood furniture do you have to have it treated, by law?

You're not obliged by law to treat the timber made to use furniture, whether it's new or recycled timber.

However, (and we have quite a few clients who have learned this at their cost) the purchaser may hold the supplier responsible for infestation that appears in the furniture within a reasonable period after they've bought it.

In terms of treatment of timber, there are two angles to consider.

In order to eliminate infestation that may already be in the timber, the product needs to penetrate the timber to reach the infestation already present. The most common method is fumigation with a suitable toxic gas - currently methyl bromide. It should be noted that this requires the applicator to be suitably registered in terms of Act 36 of 1947.

In order to reduce the possibility of new infestation into the timber, full penetration of the timber isn't required, but there does need to be a residual effect. Advanced techniques include irradiation to alter the chemical composition, and pressure impregnation of chemicals. The more do-it-yourself method is to brush coat or soak the timber in a product such as CTX 108.