I think EPA had something to do with it. They’v been trying to reduce the amount of toxic materials (e.g. arsenic) that leaches into the your environment.
That makes sense Pete.
If your joints are such that dirt won’t collect in them, are decently elevated above the soil, and are able to dry out after rain, yours will probably do much better than mine. 
Stain can help preserve the boards also.
Nothing is in the dirt. And it seems to drain fairly fast as well.
Then you’re in good shape. Just keep an eye on joints, and know there’s things you can do if you see something suspicious. Like pressure washing, staining, treatment with fungicide and / or pesticide, and – as a last resort, if you wait forever like I did – rot abatement.
Around here there is 2 types of PT lumber. One type is rated for ground contact and the other is not rated for ground contact.
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Same in MD: posts (4x4, 6x6, 8x8, etc) are, but 1x and 2x aren’t.
Lots of work, but glad you are doing it. Rotten elevated decks are pretty scary!
In the one shot of the post, it looks like the water intrusion/rot started with that knot on the front corner. Knot much you can do to prevent that except flood with stain regularly.
Since that’s a corner post on a stairway I would consider adding some steel angle on one corner with a dozen or so construction screws. Your fix is great cosmetically, but won’t help if somebody stumbles on the stairs and relies on that post to break their fall and stay upright.
Great points Jon, thanks. Good idea on the angle around the post corner, I like it.
[edit] but I’d want both sides of the stair to match… maybe I should induce rot on the north post? naah, would take too long… 
Finally got all three posts up and the floor painted, but no railings up in time for kids/grand-kids visit this week. Maybe I can talk my son into helping with the railings later in the week. I got the grand kids to trim and weed the right of way yesterday!
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Looks fantastic Jon. I love that black on gray (gray blue?) color scheme.
Thanks. We do too! It’s all blacks and grays. The camera gives it a little blue. Log siding is “Storm”, Trim is “Gray Owl” and doors and window sashes and shutters are “Witching Hour”. The storm door, porch posts and future railings are just plain Black 
There is also a few sections of Board and Batten siding that were painted “Gun Metal” which is a gray shade between the log siding color the and the shutters. And just for a little interest, the porch ceiling is"Marblehead Gold". I’d like to take credit for the combination, but all but the Gun Metal came directly from the Benjamin Moor exterior brochure. My wife Marilyn chose the darker grey for the board and batten.
Here is that brochure cover…
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In the spirit of “finish what you started,” last year I did the edging blocks shown near the top of this thread. The ~140 leftover blocks got stowed in the garage, awaiting deployment. This stack is two rows deep.
I abruptly woke up this morning, realizing today was deployment day. Because I’ve arranged for the garage floor to be epoxy-coated early this week, and there was no other time for me to get those things outta there.
So, I engaged in the fast n’ dirty block laying method: haul the blocks out and line 'em up on the grass where the next wall will be. And later, optionally deal with fill / gravel / leveling / etc., after unwanted grass has succumbed to Round-Up and gravity.
This S-shape is to redefine / expand our bird feeder area. After I finished it, the large audience of local squirrels gave me a standing ovation.
Cliff,
I’ve got a pile of similar blocks I’ve been slowly collecting for free or really really low cost of Craigslist. One of my projects on this spring/summer list is to complete a half finished wall that the previous homeowners did.
Reminds me, I need to set up a automatic notification for free blocks as I’m sure I’ll need more.
Ooh, you can do that?
Supposedly according to my brother in law. I’ve never actually tried it yet.
My BIL says stuff only just to see if I’ll check it out…
But maybe your BIL is of higher quality, good luck, and please report on your findings.
Well he used it to find their travel trailer and responded to an ad within minutes of it being posted during the middle of a epic game of Catan with me and the rest of the family. So it must work…
Is this a less geeky version of D&D or a less death and dying version of Oregon Trail? Or a minecraft on a board?
Our fam used to play that a lot, we got all the extensions. All the kids have flown the coop though, so it doesn’t see much light nowadays. I should bring it out on Thanksgiving… Maybe tie the scoring into who does K.P…