The deterioration of the wood is commonly caused by the following factors: fungi, insects such as termites and carpenter ants, other organisms such as marine borers, and of course extreme changes in weather. Among the three factors, fungi is the leading cause of wood deterioration.
A complete structural deterioration of untreated wooden frames is not likely to happen in as early as 3 years. However, it doesn't mean that you can lessen your maintenance efforts. Remember that proper care and treatment for the wood will extend the life of your greenhouse up to 5 to 10 times longer with very little added cost.
There are two basic types of preservatives used to treat your wooden frames; these are oil-borne and water-borne salt types. Oil-borne preservatives are highly durable and come at very reasonable prices. However, you may want to take out your plants first before treating the wood because oil-borne preservatives tend to be toxic to plant growth. Just the mere fumes of wood treated with oil-borne preservatives are enough to cause some damage to your growing plants.
Water-borne salt type preservatives are essentially non-toxic and are a safer choice for treating greenhouse frames. There may still be a slight chance that toxicity to young roots can occur with direct contact to newly treated wood. To avoid this, it may still be the best idea to take your plants out before treating the wooden frames.
You can research on the methods to apply these treatments, or if you are feeling unsure you can hire someone to treat the wood for you. Though you may need to spend a couple more dollars on treating wood, in the long run it will still be the best idea because it can prolong the life of your greenhouse for a couple more years.
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