Category: Cedar
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Modified with Permission from Building Products Digest, March 2012
Richly aromatic, highly decay resistant, and all beauties to behold, North American cedars grow from coast to coast. But each type has its own strengths, making it best suited for certain applications and markets.
Western red cedar is the most abundant cedar available in the U.S. and Canada. Primarily grown in British Columbia, it also can be found in western Washington and Oregon. Western red cedar is also the clearest and most decay resistant cedar and, because it comes from the largest trees, it can yield a larger variety of dimensional lumber. Its sapwood is nearly white, its heartwood fragrant reddish or pinkish brown to dull brown.
Its abundance and properties make the species popular across the country. Western Red cedar is the dominant choice in the Northeast due to natural characteristics of the product that make it very stable, durable and weather resistant. WRC is twice as stable as other softwood species. The natural oils are resistant to insects and decay. Best of all, it looks great even when left natural. Today’s high-tech coatings, when used properly, will provide the best looking and performing exterior wood products on the market. WRC is perfect for clear products—siding, decking, paneling, fascia, trim, shakes and shingles, and appearance grade timbers. Due to its superior qualities, coastal western red cedar is the only type of cedar sold by some distributors, including Boston Cedar.Inland red cedar is the same botanical species as western red cedar, but hails from the interior slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Idaho, Montana, and into eastern B.C. and Alberta. Grown in drier, higher-elevation forests, Inland red cedar trees are small and their wood lighter, more striped, and with less clarity and color variation than coastal-grown western red cedar.
Because the Inland red cedar trees grow farther inland, are slower growing, and develop tighter fiber with small tight knots, the resultant log is a nice choice for narrow tight-knot boards and profiles. One main difference between coastal western red cedar and Inland red cedar is the color of the board. There is less iron in the soil where IRC trees are grown. As a result, the color of the board is blonder in nature than coastal western red cedar and it has more of a creamy-caramel hue to it.Incense cedar is native to the mountains from western Oregon to southern California and the northern Baja Peninsula of Mexico. Its sapwood is creamy white, its heartwood light brown to light reddish brown. Decay resistance and dimensional stability are high, yet strength, shock resistance, stiffness and hardness are moderately low.
Incense cedar however provides virtually splinter free versatility. It can be used in many applications such as decking, pergolas, T&G paneling, and timbers. When properly and slowly dried to less than 19%, it is very stable and durable and has excellent stain-holding properties.
While Incense cedar has performance properties that are very similar to WRC, it is a less expensive option for a customer desiring cedar qualities on a budget.Port Orford cedar is found in a compact zone near the Pacific coast, from southwest Oregon to northwest California. It’s one of the easiest cedars to identify, due to the distinctive yellow tone of its sapwood and the hints of yellow in its browning heartwood. Decay resistance is high, the texture fine and even and the substrate has a bitter ginger smell. The wood is also somewhat lightweight and shock resistant, and will shrink slightly when dried. Port Orford is one of the strongest of all cedars and an excellent choice for both interior and exterior use. Historically, it has been a popular wood for fine boat building, beams and decking because of its strength and natural oils that make it rot and decay resistant.
Alaskan yellow cedar, which is also known as Pacific yellow cedar and Sitka cypress, grows slowly along a coastal patch from southern Alaska to southern Oregon, limiting its availability. Tight supply is unfortunate considering that Alaskan yellow cedar is the hardest of all cedars while boasting easy workability, exceptional resistance to weather, decay, disease and insects. Popular applications are boat building, shingles, sauna boards, trim, fascia and paneling.
Eastern white cedar, also known as Northern white cedar, grows in eastern Canada and the North Central and eastern forests of the U.S. In part because most of the tallest trees were harvested over a century ago, eastern whites are typically not as prized as the larger cedars in the West. Yet the wood is still naturally resistant to rot and insect infestation and yet lightweight and easy to work with. The sapwood is white and tinged with hints of yellow. The heartwood is light brown and occasionally possesses a red hue.
The wood is soft and light weight with low mechanical properties and since it has the lowest density of any commercial domestic wood, it a natural choice for canoe building and log home construction.Atlantic cedar has similar properties to eastern white cedar, though is less porous and is found along the coastal plain of the eastern U.S. The sapwood is narrow and white, the heartwood light brown with a hint of red.
Applications for Atlantic cedar include siding, paneling, boat planks, fencing, decking and shingles.Southern red cedar grows along the East Coast, from northeast North Carolina to central Florida and west to southeast Texas. With dull-red heartwood, it is lightweight, soft and weak, but highly durable and works and finishes well. Southern red cedar is ideal for aromatic paneling for use as closet lining.
“Cedars” are also imported from overseas, most notably Chinese cedar (a fast-growing wood popular for fencing, but structurally closer to fir) and Spanish cedar (a mahogany-like hardwood used in cigar boxes and humidors). Both species are attractive and highly aromatic, explaining why exporters are happy to trade on the reputation of authentic cedar.
Primed and Unprimed Western Red Cedar -
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By: Eric Thompson
The ThinkHouse is a freestanding study and reading space in the woods adjacent to a primary residence on Frost Pond in rural New Hampshire.
The unique design arose from the idea of a study as a place apart from the everyday world, a realm of tranquil introspection. Combined with the spectacular natural setting, the concept of ‘a place apart’ was the impetus for lifting the project off the ground and into the trees.
The get-away space is comprised of three parts that articulate and amplify the movement from daily life into the realm of deep thinking. First, a long, gently rising and meandering Western Red Cedar entry ramp is carefully calibrated to the site specific conditions of the trees, granite boulders and land contours.
The second part of the sequence is the entry leg of the “L” shaped plan, a relatively closed and darkened space. The entry provides a transitional space, a moment which severs the connections to the outside world behind.
The ending point of the sequence, the study space and reading room itself, blossoms as one emerges from the hall, opening generously to natural daylight, the forest, and the clean lake water beyond.
The design was considered from the start with Real Cedar in mind due to its spectacular warm color and ability to harmonize with yet enhance the natural qualities of the wooded site. Furthermore, the rich color variation of the Western Red Cedar siding provided a strong horizontal texture to the project and its exceptional weathering qualities, marking the passage of time were compelling reasons for its selection.
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Unlike commonly found man-made building materials such as metal, cement, stucco and plastic that must be mined or manufactured from non-renewable resources, Coastal Western Red Cedar from British Columbia is harvested and reforested in a sustainable manner. As well, the environmental impacts of responsibly producing Western Red Cedar products are significantly less than those of manufactured building products.
As a leading producer of Coastal Western Red Cedar, Western Forest Products Inc. is a logging and lumber manufacturing company which includes eight sawmills, two remanufacturing plants and harvesting operations spanning Vancouver Island and the coast of British Columbia, Canada. Western Red Cedar, like many of Western Forest Products offerings has one of the lowest carbon footprints of all commercial building materials. Not only is Western Red Cedar beautiful and functional, it’s also the ideal choice for the environment. Western Red Cedar is a renewable resource and WFP’s operations include extensive reforestation projects throughout its timberlands.
With a rich history which stretches back more than one hundred years, Western Forest Products, manages vast crown timberlands which are more than just a resource – they are the heritage and future of the company. Responsible forest stewardship is essential to the survival and success of the company and WFP is committed to sustainable development of forest lands.
One of the five species that WFP harvests and manufactures is Western Red Cedar, and one of the hundreds of finished goods that are manufactured on an annual basis by WFP is exceptional Prestige 5/4 x 6 Kiln Dried STK Decking.
Due to the unique temperate climate on coastal British Columbia, it provides for ideal growing conditions and is well known for producing slower growing tight grain heavy to heart wood Western Red Cedar. Regions that provide the world’s best vertical grain Western Red Cedar also provide incredible tight grain, tight knot cedar. This type of WRC is highly coveted due to its longevity and stability which yields little to no splitting or checking once milled and installed. The outstanding qualities of coastal Western Red Cedar prove to be more decay resistant and stable compared to cedar that have much faster growing properties.
After nature has provided the optimum cedar fibre, Western Forest Products takes the best tight knot raw material and manufactures through its state-of-the-art dry kilns and planer process a decking product that is unsurpassed in a “Real Cedar” decking. Once the manufacturing processes are completed, “Prestige” Western Red Cedar decking is expertly packaged and shipped by railcar directly to Boston Cedar for exclusive distribution rights in the Northeast United States.
When you are ready to purchase western red cedar, look for a quality manufacturer like Western Forest Products who is a proud member of the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association. Real Cedar is an attractive choice for people who desire a real wood deck yet are often surprised when they find the real western red cedar price is lower than many other woods or man-made imitations.
A clean load of Prestige Decking as it arrives to Boston Cedar directly from Western Forest Products.
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The grade choice appropriate for the intended purpose a builder or consumer makes when purchasing western red cedar is very important. It can truly impact the life of the product as well as the stability of the structure and anticipated maintenance.
Two fairly common grades used in the Northeast are Clear Heart Vertical Grain (CHVG) and Aye and Better (A & BTR). By far the very best choice is CHVG due to the fact that this grade is cut from heart of the log. The fiber is free from naturally occurring defects such as mixed grain, flat grain, grain – raising and knots. The tightness of the grain adds to its spectacular appearance especially when used in an indoor installation and left uncoated or simply clear sealed. The exceptional tight grain gives the milled product remarkable stability and reduces the chances of cupping and splitting. CHVG also allows for fantastic long term coating adhesion. Used outdoors and left natural, CHVG will patina to a beautiful silver gray hue that is highly desired in coastal regions.
A & BTR which is also cut from CHVG allows for limited natural defects such as mixed grain, flat grain and small pinhead knots. The mixed and flat grains make the finished product a bit more unstable than 100% CHVG, meaning the grain is more susceptible to movement. When substrate movement occurs the coatings or finishes used on the boards are more apt to fail. Natural grain-raise results over time and detracts from appearance and long term stability. All these characteristics impact the quality expectations associated with Western Red Cedar. So, while A & BTR grade which is a good choice and may be more attractive from an initial cost perspective is more prone to instability and increased maintenance over time.
CHVG is the best cedar grade choice for appearance, dimensional stability, uniformity, coating adhesion and long life which provides the building owner generations of low-maintenance satisfaction and lasting beauty.
Boston Cedar distributes a wide assortment of high quality proprietary CHVG Coastal Western Red Cedar products. In the siding category Boston Cedar proudly offers solid Cowichan Gold verticals and complementary trim boards. In the CHVG finger-jointed arena there is True Gold exterior trim which has a uniform application of stain blocking primer followed by a high quality zero VOC acrylic topcoat. Installer friendly 100% 16’ Bevel in a Box clapboard that has been expertly primed has been a core staple at Boston Cedar for several years. All three reliable products are available in FSC Certified or non-FSC options.
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During the building boom of the mid-80’s it was common practice for Northeast builders and painters to advise homeowners to wait 30 to 60 days before priming or painting raw siding and trim so that any mill glaze on the wood would be removed by the sun. Truth be told, those damaging UV rays and the use of flat grain substrates gave wood siding and trim a bad name. Today, many people in the industry still remember when Western Red Cedar siding was near impossible to get as a result of huge demand coupled with abundant mill closures. Redwood clapboard temporarily became popular during that period of time as builders would use almost any wood product that was available. The resulting extensive extractives bleed issues, splits, cracks and checks still linger today and in many cases, property owners have covered the building with vinyl siding to hide a problem that could have easily been prevented.
Over time the coatings industry, the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association, architects as well as the US Forest Products Lab located in Madison, WI has slowly but surely changed the way things are done by extensively educating the entire building channel.
Vertical or edge grain natural wood products are always superior to flat-grain species especially when those products are used outdoors. They hold coatings better, are less likely to check and overall last longer than flat grain offerings. Rain, snow, heat, humidity and building design all contribute to the long term performance and durability of the chosen substrate and the most common cause of premature coating failure and substrate decay is moisture. One of the key benefits of factory finishing is reducing potential swelling due to moisture. This can be achieved by following a few simple value-added factory finishing steps:
- Factory finishing ensures that the raw substrate has achieved equilibrium as observed by trained technicians constantly checking the moisture content of the product during the factory coating process.
- Factory finishing facilities use a primer specifically designed for the given siding or trim product.
- The factory finishing process evenly primes all six side sides of the substrate under controlled temperature and humidity settings.
On the job-site and during installation it is very important to make sure that:
- The coated substrate is kept loosely covered, elevated at least 6″ off the floor or ground, kept out of direct sun or harsh weather and has reached equilibrium.
- All rip and end cuts are immediately sealed with a compatible color matched primer.
- The coated product is secured with stainless steel nails applied flush to the substrate surface so that raw fiber is not re-exposed.
- Carefully apply a high quality topcoat as soon as possible but within 90 days.
Maximum Durability and Reduced Maintenance Represent a Better Installed Value
Pre-priming in the factory rather than in the field offers a lower installed cost and a superior long-term job. High quality coating ingredients that are specifically formulated for factory finishing, coupled with the precise factory application, result in a finish that provides maximum durability and protection against nature’s harmful elements. A factory applied primer-finish under controlled temperature and humidity conditions also ensures an ideal platform for field applied topcoat adhesion. Since all exposed surfaces of the substrate have been machine finished, expansion and contraction are significantly reduced in the field. The net result is a superior long-lasting finish that greatly reduces future maintenance and provides long term curb appeal.
Boston Cedar proudly distributes an extensive offering of exceptional factory primed vertical grain western red cedar products such as Cowichan Gold, True Gold and Bevel in a Box to provide many years of dependable service life.
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