Log edging - lifetime?

[Mojooo]

I wnat to buy some of this stuff:

http://www.focusdiy.co.uk/content/ebiz/focus/invt/...

If I treat it with B and Q fence panel stuff... anyone know how long they are likely to last for before they rot?


They will be used in 2 areas of my garden:

Concrete gravel board one side, these in the middle, then some paving the other side.


Concrete gravel board one side these in the middle, grass on other side.

[robinhood21]

I have just replaced some that were probably 4/5 years in the ground. I would not expect the 'fence treatment' to make much of a difference to be honest. Pretreatment with a good preservative (the likes of Cuprinol spring to mind) would probably help but, to be on the safe side best dip in hot tar to be sure.

[Mojooo]

dont they come pre treated anyway? i just want to paint them to look nice TBH

What is the diff between the oens on a rool and theo nes that come in a fixed line - that have sharp ones of the edges? how do you get the rolls into the ground? just dig them halfway in or something?

[robinhood21]

Pretreated they might be (mine had a green tinge to them) but with what, I know not. I suspect it might have been coloured water for all the good it did in the preservative stakes.
I have only used the stake-on-a-roll and, found that digging a small start off trench (a couple of inches) then unrolling then whacking with a hammer to be the way forward.

[netherfield]

If tanalised they should last ten years

[robinhood21]

netherfield said:

If tanalised they should last ten years

I agree. 'Tis what I thought had been done to mine what with the green tinge. But as they lasted for only 4/5 years they were probably just coloured with green water.

[ncs]

There are a few classes of Tanalith treatment, & now they are all water based as apposed the the good old days when it was copper chrome arsenic!

The better treatment is suitable for contact with the ground & is done under a higher pressure, but it costs more money so is unlikely to be what you buy off the shelf in the 'sheds'

Nick

[Simpo Two]

I made a larger scale thing about 20 years ago using half-round timbers from an equestrian centre (normally used for building jumps) - they range from 4-6" wide.

Any idea that I could simply cut the end into a point and hammer them in was quickly dispelled the moment I tried it, so I ended up digging a trench and setting them in about a foot. I joined them at the back with U-staples and galvanised wire. Some posts are still good after 20 years; the main problem was when the backs of some rotted a little bit and loosened the staples so they no longer supported each other. I think that if you fix them down far enough in the soil there's not much bacterial/fuingal activity down there (a little anaerobic perhaps) so they last much longer.