What to Do if You Discover Lumber Treated with Creosote in Your Home or Workplace in Charleston, SC

If an unpleasant chemical odor similar to that of mothballs seems to be emanating from the walls or floors of your home or place of business, you may be dealing with lumber that’s been treated with creosote. This chemical concoction has been widely used as a wood preservative, especially for dock pilings and utility poles in coastal areas like Charleston, South Carolina. In fact, it’s sometimes applied to the wood support poles of elevated homes that were built in a floodplain.

Creosote-treated lumber was never intended to be used as construction material for buildings occupied by humans. However, it’s sometimes recycled for this use. When this happens, there are potential adverse effects that go beyond the obnoxious smell.

How Lumber Treated with Creosote Can Affect Human Health

Creosote-treated wood can emit harmful vapors for decades. In fact, exposure to creosote emissions has been linked to:

  • Skin rashes
  • Respiratory illnesses
  • Eye damage that is sometimes permanent

Moreover, some government agencies classify creosote emissions as a probable human carcinogen.

EnviroShield Has the Ideal Solution

In the past, property owners who discovered lumber treated with creosote in their homes or workplaces had to painstakingly scrape and sand away the top layers of the wood and refinish it – and even then, the unpleasant odor and potentially harmful emissions might continue. Fortunately, EnviroShield has come up with a better solution: CreoShield™. This innovative coating, available exclusively from EnviroShield, can encapsulate the creosote vapors, thus eliminating the odor and reducing the emissions to a level that’s safe for human exposure. Additionally, CreoShield™ requires little site preparation before application – just a power washing of the affected area is necessary.

If you’ve discovered lumber treated with creosote in your Charleston home or office, contact EnviroShield today to learn more about the advantages of choosing CreoShield™.