As a fan of the look of shou sugi ban and someone who enjoys trying my hand at different types of woodworking projects, I completely understand why someone might be interested in knowing if they can use pressure treated wood for shou sugi ban. I have a ton of pressure treated wood sitting in my wood pile and am currently looking for something to use it on.
Pressure treated wood can be used for shou sugi ban. When pressure treated wood is burned, it releases carcinogens into the air. This means you’ll need a proper mask and plenty of air movement. Be careful not to breathe in burning pressure treated wood as it can cause health issues.
Of course, the odd time breathing in pressure treated wood that’s burning likely won’t affect you in a negative way. It’s just something you should be aware of. Every day in life, we’re breathing in something that isn’t healthy. Just be careful and you’ll be fine. In this article, I’ll touch on why you might use pressure treated wood for shou sugi ban and why you might want to try a different type of wood.
Let’s get started.
Why use Pressure Treated Wood for Shou Sugi Ban?
Before we talk about why you might use pressure treated wood for shou sugi ban, did you know that the whole concept of burning or charring wood is to weatherproof it? Yes, it’s true. The Japanese started doing this in the 1700’s with cedar to weatherproof it even further than it was naturally. The Japanese used the charred cedar on the outside of their homes.
There are two main reasons I can think of for purposely using treated wood.
- You might want it weatherproofed as much as possible for outside use. It’s already weatherproofed with chemicals so if you’re planning on using the finished piece of woodwork outdoors, it’ll have that much more weather protection after you’ve applied the method of shou sugi ban to it.
- My second top reason for using treated wood for shou sugi ban is for the plain fact that pressure treated wood is easy to find free of charge. It’s really amazing if you start looking around for houses where old fences or decks are being torn down.
- A lot of these older fences and decks would have been built using treated wood. If they were never stained or painted, you have some used wood that would work great for your woodworking project.
Remember that when you use pressure treated wood for sugi ban, it’ll look a bit different than using a wood that isn’t treated with chemicals. The effect you get from a chemical free wood might be more appealing to you.
It’s just something else you should consider when deciding whether to use treated wood or not.
Can You Shou Sugi Ban Pressure Treated Wood?
We just talked about why you might want to use treated wood for this application, but probably the most important question you should ask is whether the treated wood can actually be used?
Burning treated wood is more of a safety concern than anything else. As far as just using the wood for this purpose, well yes, you sure can use it – its wood. Go for it!
What you should be concerned about is the fact that treated wood is “treated” with chemicals to help weatherproof the product for outdoor use. This means when you cut, burn, or sand you are in danger of inhaling toxic fumes.
Since you’re interested in shou sugi ban, you’ll be burning the product. I hear warnings all the time of people saying don’t throw treated wood in a fire because of the toxic fumes that’ll be released into the air.
It’s hopefully obvious but it’s still worth saying you should burn treated wood in a well-ventilated room or preferably outdoors, if possible. Just make sure you are up wind from the project.
Do yourself a favor and consider upgrading your dust mask to a respirator. A respirator like this one on Amazon will help filter out not just dust but gases and vapors which is what you need to filter out in this situation.
If you want to really up your face mask game and you have the funds, this respirator is a step or two above the one I listed above.
What is the Preferred Wood for Shou Sugi Ban?
As explained at the beginning of this article, the Japanese would burn cedar for shou sugi ban. That’s because cedar is a wood that naturally repels the elements and even bugs. This would make cedar the preferred wood of choice for your shou sugi ban projects.
I know most hobby woodworkers will use spruce, Douglas fir or pine from their local building center supply store and that works too. You can also purchase cedar at those stores.
Conclusion
To wrap-up this article, I just want to point out that using treated wood for shou sugi ban is possible but be aware you might get a different finish than desired because of the chemicals in the wood.
It’s preferable if you use other woods for this but at least you have the option.
I like the fact that it’s very likely you can get used treated wood for free and whoever you’re getting it from might be glad you’re taking it off their hands. Of course, you can use new wood but sometimes using weathered wood, even though you are burning it, will give you a different or unique-looking finished product.
Good luck with your project!
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