Shed repairs - is this creosote?

[Lem89]

Hi everyone
I'm repairing an old garden shed (prob 20 years old) it's a bit filthy and I'm wondering if cresote has been used. How can I tell? It does 'clean' off a bit.
Any thoughts. Is it safe to use not as a workshop but more as a tool shed.
I've replaced a few shiplap boards and cleaning out the inside now.

 

[Orraloon]

There is a good chance it is. You should be able to tell by the smell. It is a bit like when hot tarmac is being put on a road. Other thing it may be is used engine oil as some budget minded guys used that. I would say its likely fumed off most of it's volatile substances by now and formed a dry skin so leave it alone. OK for a storage space and if you do some work in there have good ventilation.
Regards
John

 

[wurglesnash357]

If the shed is only twenty years old there's a good chance that it's not traditional creosote but the modern version with all the good stuff taken out - basically coloured water with added smell.

I'm not sure what the supposed risk with actual creosote is, but my guess is that if you don't chew the woodwork you'll be perfectly safe. I grew up taking Potter's Catarrh pastilles for sore throats, which contained creosote in the recipe, and I'm still alive and kicking fnrr fnrr decades later.

Les

 

[Phil Pascoe]

2007 iirc it was banned. The proper stuff is still available but has to be bought through a trade account. I have 25lts of it.
We used to treat all the packing crates for camping gear, tent pegs, ropes, everything with it decades ago.