Misdirected enviromental actions
 

Today I was helping a neighbor power wash her wood porch and got to thinking(yes, it was a milestone). Thinking is bad, because this one went deeply against my green-facist-grain.

Anyways, she wanted to paint the thing. Latex paint never lasts long outdoors on horizontal surfaces: The wood grain somehow always absorbs moisture, swells, and pops the paint right off.
Oil paints(primers, and mabye even stains) are being phased out because of the air pollution, and soon will be almost impossible to purchase, but the only reliable way to make materials last is to make them waterproof.

So when wood structures rot and need to be replaced years/decades prematurely, what are the added environmental implications?
-The wood will need to be planted, cut, transported, processed, transported, sold, and transported again.
-Same with the latex paint and all hardware,
-Not to mention the customers travel, surface preperation energy usage, and goods consumed during this process.

http://www.trex.com/

We used this in gray on my mom's porch a few years ago.

Trex is no longer considered 'fire-safe' for installation of a deck in any rural rated fire zone.

Wish we had done our deck prior to the call by CalFire.

Great thread.

Some times the environmental considerations of our actions are not simple. There are plenty of foolish things taking place in the name of being 'green'.

Most of the people here put a nice dark stain on their decks. Like a mahogany or walnut color and that treats them pretty well. I don't know if its "fire safe" or whatever but its just regular stain. Done every couple years when sealcoating the drive and these decks have all lasted at least 15 years so far. You have to get everywhere but it works. I don't think we'll see some environmental catastrophe because of no more deck oils.

the German stains are good & last a long time

yes, the more pigment, the longer they last

I assume she wants to keep the wood and make it last as long as she can...

avoid all paints - use a stain

PAINTING a deck? No offense, but DUH! Latex paint is not designed for foot traffic, standing water, abrasion from deck furniture, etc.

That's ya mistake....trying to make wood waterproof is never going to work.. apply a 'stain' or or oil that reduces its water absorption yet allows it to breathe is the key.

Plenty of 'relatively' environmentally safe products that allow you to do this.. but fing's point is a good one as well..contradictory requirements..

Leave the wood unpreserved and let it rot and go back to the soil as nature intended. When it does don't replace it, that would be irresponsible and not green.

Let everything decay and then go live in a cave, but when you do don't burn anything to keep from freezing to death. That would also be irresponsible :rolleyes:

problem is the neo-conned de-reg types got control
and turned what was intended to be a major CORP and big project
type rules and laws against the little guys

I would use a two part urethane paint on a wood porch floor and the whole porch too

I would put the joint down before posting

At least here in the termite zone, everyone seems to be going to Hardiplank type boards for decks, etc. The only thing that is not hardiplank seems to be fences.

Ya think!



If a tree gets blown over in a wind-storm, how many carbon credits does mother nature have to pay some politician?


... What about when a volcano knocks down 4 Billion board feet of wood?


http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/M...-24-80_med.jpg

I don't know about you but just the mention of the word "GREEN" makes me want to puke.

The f..king eco-terrorists have taken over this country

The competition for eco-cred has gone off the rails. It has gotten to the point where if you draw ANY line, against the eco-insanity, you may as well be clubbing baby seals just for fun. --that's how the eco-zealots will paint you.-- you anti-environmentalist, you.

I mean REALLY, who wants to crap where they live? These eco-zealots have no balance. They just want more power to control -you- to their gain of eco-cred.

Yep, you can't turn on the news w/o hearing "GREEN" or "CARBON FOOTPRINT"....

When writing an add to sell my house last year, I worked the word "Green" into the text just so some idiot searching under that word might find the add.

Actually, we were having a dinner discussion on this last night with the neighbors. He works for DOW and is still pissed off about the DOW asbestos fund.

Called "Manufactured Consent." :-/