I have always heard you could not use pressure-treated lumber on the interior of a house
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emo7
| Posted in Building Code Questions on
What about bottom plates that come in contact with concrete in a basement?
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Replies
Emmett,
Building codes require that any lumber installed in contact with concrete must be pressure-treated. Millions of homes in the U.S. have pressure-treated mudsills. These pieces of pressure-treated lumber are often visible from inside the basement, and they do no harm to occupants.
If you don't want to use pressure-treated lumber in these locations -- including for the bottom plates of basement partitions -- you can ask your local building inspector whether a layer of closed-cell-foam sill seal or peel-and-stick membrane on untreated lumber will work instead of using pressure-treated lumber. Some inspectors accept this approach; others don't.
Personally, I think that pressure-treated lumber in these locations is a good idea.