Question of the day: If I have new pressure treated lumber (for a fence or deck), how long should I wait before I stain or paint it? An excellent question, with a wildly unsatisfactory answer to anyone trying to finish a project. Of course everyone knows the answer is 1…2…3…crunch!

Ask Google or AI or a neighbor who paints things for a living. Or ask the paint guy at Home Depot. The correct answer is “not today”. That is the answer the person with the paint brush in their hand does not want to hear. The correct answer is actually a few months to a year, depending on where you live. It takes awhile for the Chromated-copper arsenate (CCA) or similar chemicals to dry. Some lumber yards ship and store the boards outdoors, so they are also wet. It is surprising how much weight variability is found in a stack of boards.

I went with the advice of a professional painter as I installed a fence in July 2023. I was thinking at the time that I’d wait a month. He said, “Next year.” And that was today.