# Green vs dark brown pressure treated wood



## acerunner

One of the home depots near me only carries the dark brown colored PT wood. They don't have the green ones that I'm used to using. What's the difference between the two types?


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## fungku

acerunner said:


> What's the difference between the two types?


Look on the tags on the wood usually stapled on the end grain and see what kind of treatment.
*
If it is ACQ:*

ACQ-B is an ammoniacal copper quat formulation; ACQ-D is an amine copper quat formulation; and ACQ-C is formulated with either ammonia or amine and a slightly different quat compound.

Currently ACQ-D is the most commonly used formulation. Like ACZA, ACQ-B is able to penetrate Douglas-fir and other difficult-to-treat wood species and is used pri-marily on the West Coast. Wood treated with ACQ-B has a dark greenish-brown color. ACQ-D is manufactured with amine copper, which gives the treated wood a light brown color. ACQ-D is not as effective as ACQ-B in penetrating difficult-to-treat woods. Both ACQ-B- and ACQ-D-treated wood can be painted or stained.


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## Gary in WA

Chart at the bottom; http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...toreId=10051&catalogId=10053&locStoreNum=4702

Gary


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## acerunner

i ended up not purchasing any, so I won't be able to check the tags until next time i go.

But it was not a light brown color as fungku and gary's chart describe. It was a dark brown, chocolate brown. Like this:


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## fungku

Well it could be C-A... 

or maybe even ACQ with some color added... 

..who knows. anyway, next time just check the tags :thumbsup:


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## Underdog

I asked one of the HD employees the same question a few months ago. He said that the new pressure treated wood is the same as the old green stuff except that they added color. He said that the brown pressure treated wood looked better as fence posts than the old green ones did.


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