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Hot take: Should you ever use pressure treated wood for indoor furniture?
I built a bookshelf for my living room in Portland last month and used pressure treated pine because it was half the price of regular lumber. After 3 days I noticed a weird chemical smell and my eyes were getting irritated. My buddy says it's fine as long as you seal it right, but my wife wants it gone. Now I'm $70 deep with a half-finished shelf sitting in the garage. Anyone else dealt with this or am I overreacting?
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taylor_hayes253mo ago
Nah man, you're not overreacting. Pressure treated wood is treated with chemicals that keep it from rotting when it's outside in the dirt or rain. Those chemicals don't just disappear once the wood is dry. They can offgas inside your house and cause exactly the symptoms you're talking about. Your buddy is wrong about sealing it being a fix. Even with a good seal, those chemicals are still in the wood and can leak out over time, especially if the wood gets scratched or cut. It's not worth risking your health or your wife's comfort just to save a few bucks. Best move is to cut your losses and buy regular pine or poplar for that bookshelf. Use the pressure treated stuff for a garden bench or a planter box instead.
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