Chromated copper arsenate treated lumber (CCA pressure treated wood) has been off the market since 2003 by EPA mandate and is considered a hazardous material. There is a new generation of pressure treated lumber on the market but I have no idea if they are limited in their distribution or restricted in certain areas. Ask at your local lumber yard for Copper Azole (CA), trade name Natural Select, or Alkaline Copper Quartenary (ACQ), sold under the trade names Preserve or NatureWood.

No joy. They simply do not carry any pressure treated pickets or decking. Doesn't matter the brand or the process. I know the copper arsenate was banned some time ago, but the other processes were already in place by then and had been for years.

I can't tell how long the situation has been this way but if you go on the websites for either Home Despot or Lows the stuff is on there - just "unavailable" in my area. OTHER people seem to be able to get it - just not here in NV.

Pressure treated lumber is available in Reno........

You don't have real lumber yards in Nevada where contractors shop? Home Depot and Lowe's are really just meant for homeowners. I go to big box stores sometimes, but for anything of substance I go to real building supply stores where they have a sales floor and a bunch of people at desks making phone calls

@Gardengal - that's dimensional lumber for construction. Fine for posts and rails - no decking or pickets however. Also that place caters to contractors. I can't remember which place it was, but when I first got here about 4 years ago I went to a lumberyard that catered to contractors and was unceremoniously asked to leave as they didn't want to bother with folks buying anything less than pallet-loads of lumber. So I have not tried any other "professional" lumberyards. But I guess I may have to risk it again.

@Ryan - see above. Also I don't know who/where they are, if they're not on yelp or they don't turn up in a websearch. If I put in "lumberyard" I get all sorts of places where they clearly want to sell a truckload at a time, and don't list pickets or decking but only dimensional lumber (if they list anything at all). I'm disabled and waaaay out of town so driving around looking (only to get thrown out the one time I physically went to one of these places, and I cannot for the life of me remember where it was) is a major undertaking for me.

If I put in "fence supply" or "fencing supply" I get all sorts of hits on places that are installers, not suppliers. I'm still looking - but I'd really like to know why HD and Lowe's are not carrying what I need. You may poo-poo big box stores, but those of us who are not contractors and don't buy things in job lots are at a disadvantage much of anywhere else.

So is anyone ELSE having trouble finding pressure treated fence pickets and decking? Or is it just us here in Nevada for some dog-forsaken reason? Or is there a secret lumber supply place where we can get it (for reasonable prices) if we do the secret knock, know the password, and can perform the secret handshake? LOL!

Hi Zenso, We have PT pickets....... in Miami...... Pt is so inexpensive we don't regularly ship it around the country since the freight can make it prohibitively expensive and normally its available locally. I'm surprised Lowe's nor Home depot has 1x6 PT deck boards that you could use. I could ship either of these (would encourage the 1x6 since its such a superior product) to you via Fedex or Old Dominion type of freight companies, but the material will have to be hand unloaded from the back of the truck. Normally done all the time by our customers, but as your are disabled may pose a problem if you cant find someone to come over and help you unload it.

I'm kinda surprised about the lumber yards. Here, anyone can go into any lumber yard and buy what they want - a single board or piece of plywood or an entire pallet-load. They will even cut it to size for you if you wish. Same thing at the box or home improvement stores.

Have you looked into using naturally decay resistant wood? Redwood, western red cedar, mahogany, ipe?

How far are you from Reno?

PT dealer in Reno

LOL! Same site I linked to in my second post :-))