I have a client that is going to side his home with cypress vertical board & batten. He purchased and installed same on the garage built first on site for construction storage.
Now as he continues to build on the house he is hunting for more cypress. He contacted a friend/relative that is in “the lumber business”. This person says that if it is to be used for siding, it should be “red cypress” and not “white cypress”.
Now he is concerned if the siding on the garage is inferior and where to by “red cypress” instead of the supposed”white” he has installed.
I’ve been around the business for a while, but this is the first I’ve heard of “red & white cypress”. The Audubon Field guide to North American Trees does not list a Red or White Cypresss
Is the Lumber buyer on target or blowin’ smoke?………………….Iron Helix
Replies
Iron,
The redder the cypress the older the tree is. Cypress growing in the swamp tends to be a little darker than uplands cypress also. Properly cared for white cypress will be fine for siding. If the MC is high this stuff will shrink lots.
Down the bayou in the land of cypress,
KK
KK
So what you are saying, as I also told my client, is that there is only one Cypress(Taxodium distichum)used for lumber, not two different trees as the lumber salesman says. The color of the wood varies with the growth environment and age of the tree.
"Properly cared for white cypress...." ---exactly what type of "care" is used in the land of cypress?
If you look at the species distribution map, our area is at the northern tip of the range, in deep Southern Illinois.
Locally it is applied raw and left to weather to a mellow silver gray. Mostly for barns and out buildings in the past, but recently has fallen from use due to the cost of $700 to $900 per MBF.
Thanks.........................Iron Helix
Iron,
There are other cypress but I think bald cypress is what we are talking about. The new growth does not have the decay resistance that the old growth does but is still pretty good. We back prime even if it's just with a water repellant like Woodlife or ArmorAll. We get 60-100 inches of rain a year so everything eventually rots. $700 MBF is about what we pay for white(growback), all heart red can go for $7000 MBF. Sinker can be pink, grey, purple, or green. Lumber salesman is just another idiot.
Down the muggy, hot bayou,
KK