Pressure-Treated Lumber: Can It Go in the Trailer?

Pressure-treated lumber comes up on almost every deck, fence and outdoor project. The short answer is yes, it can go in the trailer — with a couple of things worth knowing.

What treated wood is

Lumber that has had preservative chemicals forced into it under pressure so it resists rot and insects. In Florida, where untreated wood outdoors has a short and unhappy life, it is used for essentially every ground-contact and outdoor structural application.

You will find it in decks, fences, docks, retaining walls, landscape timbers, sill plates and pool deck framing.

It goes in the trailer

Treated lumber is accepted as construction and demolition debris. It goes in with the rest of your deck or fence and it is handled at the disposal facility as C&D material.

What it is not is yard waste. Do not put treated lumber in with clean vegetative debris, because clean yard waste is often processed into mulch and treated wood cannot be.

Other things not to do with it

• **Do not chip or mulch it.** The chemicals end up in the mulch and then in your soil.
• **Do not use offcuts in a vegetable garden bed**, a compost pile or anywhere food is grown.
• **Do not use it for cooking**, ever — no skewers, no smoking wood, no grill fuel.

Handling it safely on the job

• Wear gloves. Treated wood splinters and the splinters carry preservative.
• Wear a dust mask when cutting or sanding it, and cut outdoors where possible.
• Wash your hands before eating.
• Sweep up and bag sawdust rather than leaving it on the ground.
• Do not let children or pets play in the offcuts.

Older treated wood

Treatment chemistry has changed over the years and older lumber — particularly anything from decades back — was treated with different formulations than current material. The practical guidance is the same: do not burn it, do not chip it, do not use it around food, and handle it with gloves.

If you are demolishing an old deck, treat the debris with that in mind rather than assuming it is ordinary lumber.

Fence posts and concrete

Treated posts set in concrete are the awkward part of a fence removal. The wood is fine; the concrete footing is a weight issue.

Knock the concrete off where you can and load it flat and shallow on the trailer floor, or leave footings in the ground if the new fence can use different post positions. Our guides on fence volume and concrete weight limits cover both sides.

What is still prohibited

Treated lumber being acceptable does not change the rest of the list. Still out:

• Paint, stain and solvents — including the can of deck stain you found in the shed
• Any liquid
• Batteries, tires and appliances with refrigerant
• Propane and compressed gas cylinders
• Anything containing asbestos

Ask if you are unsure

If a load contains something you are not sure about, tell us before we haul it rather than after. Call (727) 779-8919 — we would rather sort it in your driveway than at the scale.