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I recently came upon a new pressure treated wood solution that results in a brown coloured treated wood. The product is called MicroPro Sienna and is available in limited quantities and styles at Lowes. I am going to use their 2x6's for the deck on my aluminum dock.

I KNOW THAT ALL THE RULES SAY - NO PRESSURE TREAT WITH ALUMINUM.

I am posting this because the new product contains much less copper than the green treatments we are all used to. As a result it is certified for use around fresh water, and can be used in metal contact provided it is only periodically wetted. So in my dock application it will sometimes get wet from waves, but most of the time the deck portion of the dock is actually dry, so it's OK.

I contacted the company that makes this product and was pleasantly surprised how much work they put into getting me a well thought out answer. The president himself, Brad Burmeister, sent me a pleasant note and said: "I feel comfortable in stating that is an allowable use in using MicroPro Sienna treated wood for such an application as long as one can be assured the wood is not in a constantly wetted application or encased, sealed or wrapped with aluminum where trapped moisture or water can occur so as to avoid pitting or other unwanted results. Based on the understanding that both the aluminum framing and the MicroPro Sienna wood is above the water line and will experience occasional wetness, i.e., splashing of water and naturally seasonal effects (rain, snow, etc.), you should receive satisfactory performance of the product. Though, if both the wood and aluminum are interfacing within the water line, or so close there is a constant wetting application, we would not recommend its use. Hopefully, this satisfies your inquiry."

I will install this in a few weeks and will post at the end of the season (when I pull the dock for the winter) to let everyone know if there was any corrosion.

This stuff looks like a great alternative to green pressure treat and should easily outlast and out perform cedar (as well as being stronger and cheaper).

The above is my opinion only, I don't work for Micropro Sienna and am not affiliated with them in any way, just thought this was cool to share.

http://microprosienna.com/

Thanks for the info!

An option you might also consider is putting a layer of tape on the aluminum where the wood contacts (tuck tape for example) - cheap to do and will help reduce or eliminate the contact area.

I suggest a layer of sill foam (goes between house sill and foundation) to insulate wood from aluminum.

Mark

bump

Walker wrote:I suggest a layer of sill foam (goes between house sill and foundation) to insulate wood from aluminum.

Mark

I agree, any separation is good. An advantage of most dock designs is that the wood lies in a channel, so you are not putting screws through it into the aluminum (which may cause weird stuff to happen).

Pressure treated wood that comes in contact with metal can be a disaster ..steel must be galvanized or your gonna run into problems.

Walker wrote:I suggest a layer of sill foam (goes between house sill and foundation) to insulate wood from aluminum.

Mark

Tapes like duct tape, wide PVC tape (preferably UV resistant) would probably work fine. Personally I'd just get a few cans of something like Tremclad and paint the metal where it will meet wood. The big thing with galvanic corrosion is that it needs an electrolyte i.e. water. The two materials can be happily mated for years without issue in dry environments, but where the is high humidity or outright wet situations, the reaction really takes off. I'd definitely take a few reasonable precautions to minimize the possibility.

Mike586 wrote:

Walker wrote:I suggest a layer of sill foam (goes between house sill and foundation) to insulate wood from aluminum.

Mark

Tapes like duct tape, wide PVC tape (preferably UV resistant) would probably work fine. Personally I'd just get a few cans of something like Tremclad and paint the metal where it will meet wood. The big thing with galvanic corrosion is that it needs an electrolyte i.e. water. The two materials can be happily mated for years without issue in dry environments, but where the is high humidity or outright wet situations, the reaction really takes off. I'd definitely take a few reasonable precautions to minimize the possibility.

I always liked science, I think I will need to try it both ways and see what happens by the end of the summer

scarkner wrote:I always liked science, I think I will need to try it both ways and see what happens by the end of the summer

Yeah science....

....I'm a dumbass for mindlessly ignorring to my own advice. So here's stock picture of my boat. Though I'e got a white Etec on the back and a Terrova at the front, otherwise it looks pretty much the same.




I'm mostly done building a "box" that continues the front deck level to right between the two consoles ending just in front of the rod storage on the floor. Needed space for two group 27 batteries in boxes, a 2 bank charger, and associated wiring, breaker, tie downs for the batteries, etc. I used a sheet of pressure treated plywood that was in the garage

Not that big a deal, I hadn't actually started fastening everything together, so all pieces will come out easy, I can use them as templates and probably lose less than an hours worth of work. I just feel kinda dumb

I definitely won't bother taking pictures as I'm doing it, I just never think of the camera on the phone until after the fact, but I'll at least take a few after shots. Hoping to get it done by Friday so I can get out on Saturday or Sunday...