Should construction, landscaping, garden or engineering timbers fail due to decay or insect attack there are various consequences that need to be considered.
Consequences of timber failure:
Firstly the general reputation of timber as a versatile, economical and high performance construction material will suffer for the whole market. We need to make sure that timber performs to its very best for each end use and extending its service life in certain end uses through an effective preservative pre-treatment will help to enhance and maintain the superb performance credentials of timber.
Failure due to the use of untreated or poorly treated timbers can also create safety issues. There have been circumstances of people being injured from the unexpected collapse of inadequately protected timber structures.
Any failure will also bring the need for costly and time consuming remedial work to replace the failed timbers and any consequential damage caused.
There are also the environmental damage of using more timber than required to replace, transport and re-install failed timbers.
Read more on: How to specify treated wood